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Copy 1 



A VIEW 

OF 



BARBARA ALLAN SIMON, 

AUTHOR OF THE EVANGELICAL REVIEW OF MODERN GINIUS.'*- 



J^TEW-YORK: 
PUBLISHED BY ERASMUS H. SIMON, 

AISD SOLD BY WILDER AND CAMPBELt, 142 BROADWAY. 



A SERIES 



OP 



ALLEGORICAL DESIGNS, 

REPRESENTING 

THE HUMAN HEART 

FROM ITS 

NATURAL TO ITS REGENERATED STATE, 

WITH 

EXPLAJSTATORY ADDRESSES, MEDITATIOJ^S, 
PRAYERS, AMD HYMJ\% 

TOIL THE II7STRUCTXOS7 OF ITOUTH. 

BY 

BARBARA ALLAN SIMON, 

AUTHOR OF THE "EVANGELICAL REVIEW OF MODERN GENIUS." 



" At oar gates are all manner of choice fruits, new and old, 
which I have gathered for Ihee O my beloved." 

Solomon's Song. 



J^ETF-YORK: 
PUBLISHED BY ERASMUS H. SIMOX, 

^ND SOLD BY WILDER AND CAMPBELL, 142 BROADWAT. 
S. VAN WINKXE, PRINTER. 
1825. 



Southern District ofKew-York, ss. 

BE IT REME1VIBE:RED, That on the sixteenth day of May 
A. D 1825, in the forty ninth year of the Independence of the 
United States of America, Barbara Allan Simon, of the said 
district, hath deposited in this office the title of a book, the right 
whereof she claims as author, in the words following, to wit : 

" A Series of Allegorical Designs, representing the Human 
Heart from its J^atural to its Regenerated State, with Ex- 
planatory Addresses, Meditations, Prayers, and Hymns, for 
Instruction of Youth, By Barbara Allan Simon, ' At our 
gates are all manner of choice fruits, new and old, which I 
have gathered for thee O my beloved'^ — Solomon"* s Song.'*^ 

In conformity to the act of Congress of the United States, 
entitled, An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing 
tlie copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and pro- 
prietors of such copies, during the time therein mentioned and 
also, to an act, entitled, " An act supplementary to an act, en. 
titled, an act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the 
copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors 
of such copies, during the times therein mentioned," and extend- 
ing the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and 
etching historical and other prints. 

JAMES DILL, 
Clerk of the Southern District of New- York. 



DEDICATION. 



I DEDICATE this work to the Chiefs of the In- 
dian tribes of this land, as an expression of esteem 
for the moral grandeur of their feeling, and of ad- 
miration at the noble, mild, and conciliatory sen- 
timents contained in their late addresses to go- 
vernment, inhehdA[ of justice, honour, and human- 
ity — in behalf of their nation* Accept this sincere, 
though humble tribute, from one who is affection- 
ately desirous of seeing your tribes united in love 
to the Redeemer* 

Chiefs of the forest ! whose sun-setting glory 

To-morning awaketh the orient earth, 
Tribes of a secret, but Heaven whispered story ! 

Lords of the land which gave freedom her birth : 
To you would a stranger this tribute of feeling 

Inscribe — for its spirit no fetters confine. 
Great Spirit! the truth of thy record revealing 

Arise on the tribea who are destined to shine ? 
2 




Long have you wandered as outcasts forsaken- 
Been driven by the lawless to ocean's wild shore ; 

But now shall your spring-time of promise awaken, 
As vines yield their blossoms when winter is o'er. 

Your free-born spirits, unquelPd by oppression, 

Have tower'd o'er the wrongs that would smother their 
flame — 

Untulor'd by art — unsubdu'd by depression, 
Have nobly defended your dear native claim. 

Ilium iti'd by Truth, that pure light of the Holy ! 
How bright its reflection shall lighten from you ! 

O say not salvation to you hath mov'd slowly 

" The lasV* it overtakes '* shall he Jtrsf*^ to pursue. 

THE AUTHOR* 

Mw- Yorky April lith, 1 82fi. 



The fashions of the world are ever changing — 
the opinions of men are ever vacillating — the 
truth of God is always the same, and shall endure 
forever! Like a mighty rock which raises its 
awful head above the waves that spend them- 
selves against its immovable base, the word of 
God has met the assaults of human and satanic 
rage ; successively have they spent their com- 
bined strength for nought : the place which once 
knew them, now knoweth them no more^ but eter- 
nal, immutable truth is the same yesterday, to- 
day, and forever ! 

" The holy scriptures are able to make us wise 
unto salvatiouj'^^ through faith in Christ Jesus ; 
and they teach that the foundation of all know- 
ledge which includes salvation, is to know what 
we are by nature^ and what we must become by 
regeneration. The posterity of fallen Adam are 



8 



there declared, without exception, to be born in 
sin, and under the dominion of Satan the deceiver ; 
and that unless we are born again, proving by 
moral resemblance our affinity to the second 
Adam, as unequivocally as we never fail to de- 
monstrate our derivation from the first, we can- 
not enter into the kingdom of God. This truth, 
so decidedly, so repeatedly taught in Scripture, 
and so much illustrated by knowledge of our own 
heart, and daily observation, is the first which 
children ought to learn ; for not until they are 
thoroughly convinced in themselves that to do 
evil is the native and spontaneous growth of their 
heart, can they feel their need of Christ as an 
atonement and mediator between them and an 
infinitely holy God, whose justice is ready to be 
glorified in consuming them 5 for while ''God is 
love'' ' to those who come to him by Christ, 
whom he hath appointed to be the way, the truth 
and the life,' he is a consuming fire to the dis- 
obedient* 

Without thus laying the axe to the root of this 
deadly evil, the most elaborate instruction which 
the schools can furnish on other subjects will be 
of no avail. The youth may by any other species 
of mental improvement become superficial cha- 
racters. As whited sepulchres, they may bear 



9 



an imposing aspect, but within they are full of 
every abomination. Their lives are spent in 
deceiving and being deceived, and their end is 
without hope. 

Parents and teachers have hitherto found it 
difficult to gain more than a passive commitment 
of these all-important truths to memory. Chil- 
dren instinctively revolt from abstract doctrines, 
these requiring a stretch of thought, and an exer- 
tion of their yet undeveloped intellect, which fa- 
tigues them. Weariness and lassitude thus cre- 
ate an aversion which is not easily conquered. 

From a studious observance of the character 
and earliest mental developments of children, I 
have constantly found that the instruction which 
has been, by their own free will, conveyed to 
their understanding through the medium of alle- 
gorical representatiojis of good and evil passions^ 
excites the deepest interest, affords the greatest 
pleasure, and makes the most lasting impression. 

Thus they pursue with the consent of all their 
powers a research whose object it is to lead 
them into all truth, and bring into captivity every 
power to the love and service of the Redeemer. 

The care of youth is a trust of the greatest 
responsibility. They are not only to become, so 
far as the bent which good instruction and exam- 



10 



pie can give, happy and useful, or miserable, and 
unprofitable in themselves ; but they are to give 
tone and color to the generation which shall suc- 
ceed ours. They are to be as lights, so shining 
in their sphere of duty, that all around may glo- 
rify the name they bear, or to become moral 
plagues, blasting all within their influence. 

The prevention of evil, by training up a child 
in the way he should go^ is wiser and safer than to 
attempt the cure of it in any subsequent stage. 
When the moral soil, from neglect — from the want 
of being duly cultured, weeded and watched over, 
has become covered with ramified and aspiring 
weeds ; — when, in other words, the heart has been 
permitted to harbor its spontaneous growth of 
secret and presumptuous sins unchecked, there is 
little hope of sowing the precious seed of reveal- 
ed truth there. The thorns will choak it, or the 
watchful tempter will hurry it away, before it has 
gained more than surface ground. Can the 
Etheopian change his hue, and the leopard his 
spots ? then may they who are accustomed to do 
evil, do good. 

If we desire to promote the interests of Christ's 
kingdom on earth — if we desire that the rising 
generation should adorn the doctrine of God the 
Saviour in all things, "let those to whose care 



11 



they are entrusted watch over their souls, as they 
that must give an account — let the youth be root- 
ed and grounded in the faith once delivered to the 
saints^'^ — that when the winds of false doctrine 
shall afterwards assail them, they may remain 
stedfast, immovable — always abounding in that 
faith which purifieth the heart, and works by love 
to God. 

Much catechetical instruction may be committed 
to memory without at all affecting the heart, or 
even acting on the understanding ; but even admit- 
ting that children could comprehend that body 
of theological divinity which the catechism con- 
tains, such kind of knowledge seldom does more 
than constitute them speculative professors. It 
is that kind of knowledge which is more likely to 
pufF up than edify ; the head has been recognized, 
but no appeal has been made to the heart ; and 
therefore this source^ from whence proceeds the 
issues of life, remains the same. 

The very terms employed to convey these ab- 
stract doctrines are unintelligible to children ; 
and the consequence is, that under the notion of 
a duty to God, they acquire {by this life service) 
the habit of taking His great and dreadful name, 
and the solemn truths of his word on their lip^5 
whih their hearts are far from him* 



12 



The children of the higher and middle clsses 
must needs be sent to liberalize their minds, and 
form their taste by the study of the profane, im- 
moral, and gross productions of Heathen genius. 
Knowledge of the revealed mind of God, and 
self-knowledge, are deemed much less essential 
than the Latin classics. The tree of prohibit- 
ed knowledge is coveted, and the tree of life 
is rejected. If the world be thus deceived by 
Satan it is no marvel. But that those who 
believe in Christ for salvation, and are there- 
fore required to come out from among them, and 
be seperated, should permit the hearts of their 
children to be thus contaminated, and taught 
to glory in shame, is inexplicable. If you, 
however, determine still to be the deluded fol- 
lowers of that multitude who throng the broad 
way, be entreated to fortify the susceptible hearts 
of your unsuspecting children with the antidote 
before you permit them to imbibe the poison — 
then if they receive the deadly mixture it cannot 
hurt them. This doctrine is, we are aware, ill 
suited to the taste of the world ; but are chris- 
tians to be conformed to the world ? It is long 
since the influence, and even the existence of 
the God of this world, zi^Ao ruleth in the heart of 
the disobedient^ has been exploded as an old fash- 
ioned legend or an obsolete figure of speech. 



IS 



The German, the French, and other schools of 
false philosophy are sound asleep on this alarm- 
ing subject ; consequently the enemy has taken 
advantage of their situation, Hberally to sow his 
tares among them. These take root inwardly, 
but bring forth fruit, which cannot be hid ; yet 
they have not sufficiently recovered their sen- 
ses to say, "surely an enemy hath done this 5 
or to recognize in that enemy, the Devil : of 
whose devices {the scriptures teach us) we ought 
not to be ignorant. For whether as a roaring 
lion he goeth about seeking whom he may devour, 
or seduces men from obedience by transform- 
ing himself into the semblance of an angel of 
light, still, he is the enemy. Christ teaches 
that certain characters are of their father, the 
Devil, and his works they will do. Paul teach- 
es by the same spirit, that Satan blinds the 
minds of men, lest the glorious hght of the 
gospel should enlighten their hearts. Again, he 
testifies that he is the god of this blinded world. 
He having the bestowment of those things which 
worldlings covet, and for which they contend, and 
to whom he will he giveth them. Their service 
and homage is the tribute he demands, and they 
willingly render it^ to be put in possesion of the 
lust of the eye, of the flesh, and the pride of hfe. 



14 



John teaches that whoso committeth sin is 
of the Devil, who sinned from the begining ; 
and that Christ was nnanifested to destroy the 
works of the DeviL James admonishes behevers 
to resist the Devil and he will flee from them. 
Again John characterizes him as Ihe adversary of 
Christ's kingdom, and the accuser of the brethren, 
warning the latter days, that he shall then come 
down having great power^ knowing that his time is 
short. The prophets make mention of him un- 
der various titles suited to the versatile aspects he 
assumes. Our Lord and Master was tempted of 
him as we are, yet without the sin of yield- 
ing : and has, as our great Exemplar taught us 
to resist his allurements (which are always ad- 
dressed to self) by the authority of the written 
word of God. 

This chief of the powers of darkness is ever 
wakeful and persevering, watching the moment 
when the servant of Christ is off his guards or has 
laid aside that shield which is able to repel his fiery 
darts. To such characters he affects another 
than his ordinary form : to appear in the shape 
of moral deformity would shock and disgust them 
— to such he appears as an angel of light. Thus, 
under the mask he assumed to deceive them, he 
has whetted and put into their hand the sword of 



15 



persecution to do God service — kindled and in- 
vested them with the torch of discord under the 
notion of zeal — -furnished and assisted them to 
scatter the seeds of contention — prepared mate- 
rials and afforded direction in building up the 
vralls of separation — and meted out to each his 
measure of party spirit. * " Ye therefore belov- 
ed, seeing ye know these things before, beware 
lest ye also, being led away with the error of the 
wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But 
grow in grace ! and in the knowledge of our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ — to whom be glory 
both now and forever. Amen !" 



* 2 Peter, iii. 17. 



0^ I think it proper to acknowledge that I am 
indebted for the leading ideas of the allegorical 
designs to the wood cuts of a nameless little book 
written in the German language. 



17 



After considering attentively the^picture of our 
natural hearty I think I hear you say, what has 
pride to do among such shameful associates ? 
This inconsistency, my dear child, must strike 
every one. The truth is, pride is so blinded by 
self-love, as to be ignorant of where it is, and who 
are its associates. Could it only see the vile rab- 
ble among whom it has been so long shut up, in- 
stead of showing off its self-important airs, it 
would hide its head for shame. 

Before Adam fell from his original innocent 
and happy state, which you know he did, by dis- 
obedience to the will of God plainly revealed to 
him in the garden of Eden, he had none of those 
evil passions in his heart, because he was formed 
in his Maker's image. 

The holy scripture teaches us, that the father 
oi pride is the Devil. He who has fallen so hope- 
lessly, was once an angel of light in heaven : 
there God had appointed him the rank he should 
hold, and the sphere of duty he should adorn ; 
but he became ambitious of self exaltation, not 
reflecting, that to be truly great and distinguish- 
ed, is to subdue self seeking above all the glory of 
God. He was cast down from that abode of 

3 



18 



peace and love because of his rebellion, together 
with those angels he had seduced to partake of 
his sin, and is with them, reserved under chains 
of everlasting duration for that place of horror 
and despair prepared for him. 

Beware, dear child, of being tempted by this 
seducing sin of Satan, You can only escape its 
attacks by watchfulness and prayer^ and argu- 
ments from the holy scripture. 

Although this dangerous sin is most easily dis- 
covered in others, it is safer and wiser to detect 
it in ourselves. I shall tell you how to know it, 
in order that you may guard against its attempts 
to seduce you : — 

Are you disposed to boast of your own merit 
or doings ? Do you seek to be admired, or no- 
ticed ? or are you eager to obtain the precedence 
of your brothers, sisters, or school-fellows ? This 
is the evil spirit called pride, from which you 
should flee as from the face of a serpent. Hear 
what the holy scripture teaches : — God hath 
respect to the lowly, but the proud he knovveth 
afar off.'' Again : " Before honor is humility — 
and a haughty spirit before a fall.'' What a mon- 
strous inconsistency is pride in man ! — a creature 
made of dust, and continually depending on his 
maker for his very breath, as well as every thing 



19 



he possesses. Alas ! what has he to be proud 
of, whose heart has been declared deceitful 
above all things, and desperately wicked — 
Sooner may the garden be proud of its thorns, and 
the field of its thistles, than man of aught he may 
call his own. 



PRAYER. 

Heavenly Father ! preserve thy frail and erring 
child from being tempted to indulge this great sin ; 
let thy good spirit enlighten my dark mind, that I 
may be enabled by that light, to discover the evils 
of my heart. Grant me, O Father, power from 
thee to resist and to subdue my other corrupt pas- 
sions. When I meditate on the humility of the 
Lord of Glory, who, to do thy will^ became of no 
reputation in the eye of the world — who was meek 
and lowly of heart — I am overwhelmed with 
shame and confusion at my own ingratitude, folly 
and stupidity, in having so long offended thy pure 
eye with a heart at enmity w^ith thee. Help me, 
O Heavenly Father, by the influence of thy holy 
spirit, to devote my future life to thy service. I 
ask this and every other petition, in the name, and 
for the sake, of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

Amen. 



20 



HYMN- 

O happy is the child who hears 
Instruction's warning voice, 
And who celestial Wisdom makes 
" His early, only choice ! 

For she has treasures greater far 
" Than east or west unfold ; 
And her rewards more precious are 
Than stores of gems or gold. 

In her right hand she holds to view 
" A life of peaceful days ; 
" True riches with true honors join'd 
Are what her left displays. 

She guides the young with innocence 
" The path of life to tread ; 
A crown of glory she bestows 
" Upon the hoary head. 

<^ According as her labours rise, 
" So her rewards increase ; 
Her ways are ways of blessedness— ^ 
" They lead to perfect peace I" 



CovETOUSNESs IS an evil spirit, which the holy 
scripture expressly forbids us to harbour^ To c?€- 



21 



sire any thing which belongs to another, is, in the 
sight of God, (who knows our thoughts,) as bad 
as stealing 5 a vice so base and shameful, that none 
but the outcasts of society would be guilty of it. 

The tenth commandment contains the prohibi- 
tion of God against covetousness, which if in- 
du!ged< would turn socket} into an image of hell. 
In reading history, we learn how much inischief 
this lawless passion has brought on the world, — 
The ambitious worid^inghas coi^^'^ec? the possession 
of another, and having power, he has seized it, 
while the blood ot thousands of immortal beings 
has been shed to pay its price, 

I shall illustrate the deceitful and desperately 
wicked nature of this passion, by two interesting 
selections from sacred history. Achan the son of 
Carmi saw, coveted, and took possession of a 
splendid Babylonish garment, although he knew 
that the command of God had prohibited the peo* 
pie of Israel from even touching the least thing 
that had belonged to that people. The tribes of 
Israel were smitten with a dreadful visitation from 
the Lord ; so that Joshua, their leader, began to 
fear that some individual had committed a great 
sin : He assembled the people, and having cast 
lots, Achan was discovered to be the guilty one : 
then Joshua said, " My son give glory to the God 
3* 



22 



of Israel, and make confession unto Him, and tell 
me what thou hast done, hiding nothing from me.'' 
Then Achan answered saying, " indeed I have 
sinned against the Lord God of Israel, for thus 
have I done : When I saw among the spoils a good- 
ly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels 
of silver, and a gold wedge sixty shekels weight, I 
coveted them — and took them — and behold they 
are hid in the earth, in the midst of my tent ; and 
Joshua and all Israel took Achan, and the silver, 
and the gold, together with his sons and daughters, 
his oxen, his asses, his sheep, his tent, and all that 
he had ; and they brought them to the valley of 
Achor. And Joshua said, why hast thou troubled 
us ? The Lord shall trouble thee this day, and all 
Israel stoned them with stones, and burned them 
with fire.'' The other illustration is in the Book 
of 2 Kings, chapter 5. 

Naaman the Syrian was a great man, loaded 
with riches and honors ; but he was a leper, (that 
is to say) afflicted with a very loathsome, and al- 
most incurable disease. He had brought away 
captive a little maid out of the land of Israel, who 
now waited on his (Naaman's) wife. This little 
maid had in her own land heard much about the 
Prophet Elisha, and she said to her mistress, would 
to God, my lord were with the prophet that is in 
Samaria ! for he would recover him of his leprosy. 



23 



This kind desire of the little maid was told the 
King of Syria, who greatly esteemed Naanian, and 
he said go, and I will send a letter unto the king 
of Israel. Naaman therefore departed, loaded 
with costly presents, and gave the letter to the 
king. The contents of this letter were dictated 
by the wisdom of the world, which is in reality 
foohshness, for there the Syrian monarch asks the 
king to cure Naaman, as if the wealth, and power, 
and greatness of this world could do what could 
only be done by the Spirit of God. The King of 
Israel rent his clothes, and said, ^^am I a God to 
kill or make alive, that this man doth send unto me 
to recover a man of his leprosy ? But when Eli- 
sha, the man of God, heard that the King of Israel 
was shocked at this proposal, he said to him, 
"^Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes ? Let him 
come now to me, and he shall know that there is 
a prophet in Israel." Naaman therefore came 
with great pomp, and stood in his chariot at the 
door of Elisha. The Prophet sent to him a mes- 
sage that he must bathe seven times in the river 
Jordan. Naaman had not faith to believe that he 
could be cured by means so simple ; he had not 
yet learnt that the whole secret of the cure lay in 
obeying the will of God : he was wroth, and went 
away ; he thought that the prophet would come 
in person, with much ceremony invoking the name 



24 



of his God, and that he would recover him by vir- 
tue of his touch : hke his mouan ii, he vv^as Wind- 
ed and seduced by woi ldly wisdom, and thus he 
reasoned : " Are not Abna and Pharpar, rivers of 
Damascus, belter than all the waters of Israel ? 
Maj I not as well wash in them to be cured ? So 
he luriied ai d went away in a rage ; but a wise 
servant of his advised him to trj the simple reme- 
dy which the prophet had prescribed. He was 
persuaded — went down to Jordan, and dipped 
himself seven times, according to the command of 
God, by the prophet, and he became renewed in 
bod)' as fresh as a little child. He being reco- 
vered, went back to the man of God, declaring to 
him, that now he knew there was no God but the 
God of Israel, and also entreating the prophet to 
receive from him a token of his gratitude ; but the 
prophet, desirous of recom.mending that reiigion 
which actuates men to do good without reward^ said, 
as the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, 1 will re- 
ceive nothing. Naamaa then entreated to be per- 
mitted to carry home with him two burdens of 
earth from the place where he had been cured, and 
taught to know God ; then he departed in peace ; 
but the servant of Elisha had none of his master's 
spirit. The evil spirit of covetousness took pos- 
session of him. He thought it was hard to see 
the rich gifts which Naaman brought as a reward 



25 



for his cure, return back with him to his own coun- 
try : he determined, since his master had refused 
his reward, to take it instead of him ; therefore, 
he followed and overtook Naaman, who alighted 
from his chariot to meet him, saying, is all well ? 
The spirit of covetousness now was insufficient to 
act alone ; another evil spirit must be called in to 
assist in the deception : it became necessary to 
tell a lie in order to make his return plausible. 
My master, said he, hath sent me to say, two young 
men, sons of the prophets, are arrived from Mount 
Ephraim — give them, I pray thee, a talent of sil- 
ver and two changes of raiment. So Naaman 
made his servants carry them before this covetous 
and false deceiver. Such deeds cannot eodare 
the light : he hid the goods in a tower of the house, 
and having let the servants go, he was again be- 
fore his master, as if nothing had happened. What 
must have been his surprise and shame, when the 
man of God said to him, Whence comest thou 
Gehazi Another he had again hecome necessa* 
ry, " Thy servant went no where," said he : 
But his master said, did not mine hea rt move when 
the man turned from his chariot to meet. thee ? — 
The leprosy, therefore, of Naaman, cleave unto 
thee and thy seed for ever: and he went out from 
his presence a leper. 



26 



MEDITATION. 

How often does a covetous spirit, lead its pos- 
sessors to affect distinction in spheres of life in- 
volving other duties and capability than they have 
the power to exercise. To desert the sphere 
which Providence has pointed out to us, and for 
which nature has fitted us, is a subversion of moral 
and social order ; for there is no situation which 
the christian may not adorn, by letting his light 
so shine in it. that his Heavenly Father snay be 
gloniied. A usurpation which is thus effected hy 
the power of money ^ instead of affording that dis- 
tinction which has been coveted, only holds its 
dupes forth to notice as ridiculous imitators. In 
aspiring after a nev*r selection of titled and fashion- 
able associates, they have heartlessly forsaken the 
pious and worthy whom they formerly knew, 
while those for whom they have been sacrificed, 
stoop only to recognize the equality of their ac- 
companiments. Themselves they ridicule and 
despise. True nobihty is not to be purchased. — > 
It throws around the chiefs of the wilderness a 
moral grandeur of feeling and sentiment, before 
which adventitious attributes sink into insigni- 
ficance and contempt. 



27 



PRAYER. 

Merciful Father! Thy erring child entreats 
thee to take entire possession of a heart too long 
the unguarded retreat of the adversary and de- 
ceiver. O thou giver of every good and perfect 
gift ! give me thy Holy Spirit, that I nriay hence- 
forth yield my heart as a temple dedicated to thee, 
enlightened from above, and having the flame 
of pure love ever ascending from Christ its altar. 
I have now seen what a hateful thing sin is ; I 
have no longer a desire to be enslaved by the vile 
passions which have so long been harboured in 
my heart ; I wish now to serve and obey my Re- 
deemer, who, to ransom me from the power of 
evil here, and its punishment hereafter, shed his 
own blood. I come to thee weak and frail ; but 
who ever asked of thee in faith^ and was sent emp- 
ty away ? Who ever trusted in thy power, and 
was confounded ? I ask all in the name and for 
the sake of Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour. 

Amen. 

" God is a spirit just and wise, 
" He knows our inmost mind ; 
In vsir. to him we raise our voic€ 
And leave our hearts behind. 



28 



" In spirit and in truth alone, 
We must present our prayer ; 
The formal and the false are known 
Through each disguise they wear, 

Their lifted eyes salute the skies, 

Their bending knees the ground. 
But God abhors the empty form 
" Where not the heart is found.'' 



Envy is an immediate influence from Satan- 
he first conceived envy against Adam and Eve in 
Eden. He could not endure to contrast their 
state with his own. They were happy in the fa- 
vor of God, and in communion with him and his 
holy angels, while he was hopeiessiy driven from 
his presence for ever. Envy of their biessedoess 
and peace led him to plan their ruin. He tempt- 
ed them with the desire of becoming greater than 
they were by forbidden means : they listened — were 
deceived — disobeyed God ; and thus, instead of 
improving their condition, in becoming a^? Gods to 
know good and evilAhey acquired by thdit prohibit" 
ed knowledge the new feelings of fear and shame. 



29 



Tbey were now afraid of God — why ? Because 
they had disobeyed his command; and they were 
ashamed of themselves, because they had lost their 
innocence. Conscious guilt taught them to hide 
themselves from God, whom they were wont to 
behold with perfect delight. 

Again : The evil spirit of envy took possession 
of Cain, who first envied, then hated, and finally 
slew his brother. Another illustration of this Sa- 
tanic passion^ we have in the history of Joseph 
and his brethren : first they envied him, and then 
concerted how to destroy him. By the interpo- 
sition of Reuben and Judah, he was delivered 
from them, and sold to a company of Ismaeiites, 
who carried him to Egypt. God overruled their 
evil purpose for much good to Joseph, and also to 
his brethren, who repented^ and were forgiven by 
him. 

Envy is seldom without its usual accompani- 
ments, which are deceit, malice, perfidy, and 
fraud ; so that a person who cherishes, or even 
admits pride, covetousness and envy, may be said 
to possess a legion of evil spirits. Such a heaF^ 
had Mary Magdalene, out of whom our blessed Sa- 
viour cast seven devils. Such devils have a kind of 
faith ; they know that Jesus Christ is the holy one 
of God; but they still continue devils : their faith 

4 



30 



only leaches them to fear that he will give them 
up to their decreed torment before the time. 



Anger is a passion, which we are informed by 
scripture, " rests in the bosom of fools," A good 
man never for any injury associated with self^ lets 
the sun go down upon his wrath ; but there is a 
holy indignation against sin^ unbelief and kypocri" 
sy^ which is sometimes in scripture called anger* 
Thus, God is represented as being angry with 
the wicked every dayJ^'^ He is indignant that all 
that light and privilege which his revealed word 
unfolds to them, is abused and neglected, or per- 
verted. The psalmist experienced this feeling of 
loyalty to God and zeal for his glory, when he 
said, " do not I hate them who hate thee, and hold 
them as mine enemies? Our Heavenly Master, 
who was meek and lowly as regarded his indivi- 
dual requisitions, was roused to resentment when 
he characterized the chief priests, scribes and 
pharisees of those times, as serpents — a generation 
of vipers ! ! who ought to bring forth fruits meet 
for repentance.'' Instead of being disinterested, 
upright, and sincere, having an eye singly to the 
glory of God, whom they professed to honor, 
they were self-interested hypocrites. The same 



31 



holy indignation urged him to enter into the 
temple, and drive out those who had turned 
it into a place of merchandize. Yes ! an individu- 
al, insignificant in their eye, having neither the af- 
fluence nor investment which secures influence, 
and purchases the respect of men, said, '4ake 
these things hence — it is written, ' my house shall 
be called an house of prayer for all people, but ye 
have made it a den of thieves !' " 

But this holy excitemeut of zeal for the glory 
of God, is as opposite to any emotion of personal 
anger, as light is from darkness. If we admit or 
cherish resentment toward those who have per- 
sonally injured us — or against persons instead of 
sins, (even when our resentment is not associated 
with self) our prayers are unacceptable to God ; 
for if we have any cause of disagreement with our 
fellow men, we are required first, to go and grant 
submission or forgiveness to those who offend us, 
and then come and offer our prayers ; because, " if 
we forgive not men their trespasses against us, nei- 
ther will our Heavenly Father forgive our tres- 
passes against Him." 

The apostles of our Lord on one occasion, were 
moved to resent a personal affront which the Sa- 
maritans ofTered to their Lord and themselves ; 
who, (because his face was toward Jerusalem,) re- 
fused from him a passing visit : they were deter- 



S2 

mined if they could not have a first, to refuse a 
secondary place in his regard. The apostle said 
to their master, Lord, shall we command tire to 
come down from Heaven, and consume them as 
Elijah did ? But Jesus said, " Ye know not what 
manner of spirit ye are of, for the son of man came 
not to destroy men, but to save them," Another 
illustration of this zeal, which is not according to 
knowledge, we find in the history of the prophet 
Jonah. The city of Ninive was very great, and 
had become very wicked in the sight of God. Jo- 
nah was commanded (much against his will) to go 
and declare to them their iniquity, and warn them, 
that if they did not repent^ the city would be de- 
stroyed within forty days. When he had done 
this, the King of Ninive came down from his 
throne, put on sackcloth, and humbled himself to 
the dust : he also proclaimed a universal fast dit- 
ring three days, when neither man nor beast 
should eat or drink ; but by prayer and contrition, 
avert the judgment which the prophet had pro- 
claimed in the name of God. 

Jonah went up to a mountain which overlook- 
ed the city, to see its destruction — which he now 
heartily wished, in order that he might have credit 
as a true prophet. This selfish feeling taught him 
to forget that he had preached repentance to the 



33 



people, as well as retribution, and that their 
repentance was to be the condition of their 
preservation from the threatened vengeance of 
God ; an issue which glorified God as much, and 
even more than the infliction of unconditional 
destruction would have done, his promise being 
fulfilled in either case. The people of Ninive 
actually did repent, from one end of the city to 
the other : they abstained from their worldly pur- 
suits^ and repenting in dust and ashes, fasted and 
prayed to the Lord for pardon and mercy. The 
universal cry of contrition which the whole city 
sent up, reached the Lord, and was accepted by 
him as the fulfilment of that condition which 
should avert his judgment. Jonah knew nothing 
of all this while he waited on the mountain, im- 
patient to see the fulfilment of his denunciation. 
The Lord taught him his error by a striking em- 
blem. The sun beat fiercely on the spot where 
he stood, having no shelter there. He wished for 
death, to relieve him of his present bodily suffer- 
ing, as well as affronted feelings ; for now the time 
was elapsed in which the destruction of Ninive 
should have taken place. He at length sunk un- 
der the oppression of his mind and body, into 
sleep. While he slept, the Lord caused a magni- 
ficent plant to spring up, whose broad and fresh 

4^ 



34 



leaves covered him from the scorching rays of the 
sun. When Jonah awoke and saw this refreshing 
and friendly shelter, he felt attachment to the 
beauteous plant for the protection it afforded him 
— but the Lord caused a worm to attack its root, 
when presently it began to droop, fade, and final- 
ly die. Again — Jonah felt actuated by personal 
anger. Then God said to Jonah, dost thou well 
to be angry for the loss of the gourd ? which nei- 
ther grew, nor was planted by thy care or labour! 
which was the grov/th of a day ! — and should I not 
spare Ninive, that great city, wherein are more 
than six thousand children^ that cannot discern be- 
tween their right hand and their left — and also 
much cattle ? How compassionate is our Hea- 
venly Father ! — iov ' we learn that little chil- 
dren, and even the inferior animals, are objects of 
his solicitude and care. 

Many, during the dark ages, have thought they I 
did God service, in robbing and murdering the 
Jews and others who differed from them in opi^ 
nion, while they only were actuated by their own 
party or personal anger^ which never burns so 
fiercely as when contending for opinion. The false 
^eal which this evil passion excites, has deluged 
Christendom with crime and blood. The most 
impious of all wars, was that which they miscalled 



55 



the holy war. Bat if this evil spirit has stolen the 
cloak of religion, it has also borrowed the mask of 
fashion. When you mix with society, dear child, 
you will not unfrequenily hear of the sacrifices 
which this evil spirit demands as the tribute 
of its infatuated votaries. Yes, you will hear 
of rational, accountable, and immortal beings, 
paying what are styled debts of honor, with their 
lives ; or by taking the life, at least shedding the 
blood, of their fellow mortals. One allows the 
spirit of anger to arise in his breast — (always in 
some cause where selfis concerned,) he gives it ut- 
terance in reproach, ridicule, or malicious insinu- 
ation. When such an assault is made against a 
christian character, he would not degrade himself 
by resenting it in kind : he knows that a mind of 
his own rank cannot offend him ; and from a lower 
grade of character he will not receive any affront 
— he would in doing so, be sunk to ike same un- 
principled level. But unhappily, when such a 
challenge as an angry word or look, is given to a 
person having the passions of his natural heart un- 
expelled, his pride is hurt, his anger is roused, his 
passions are in a wild tumult, Satan fomeiits their 
disorder — affront is taken, redress is demand- 
ed, a convenient place is appointed, instniiiients 
of death are provided, and forthwith the men of 
honor adjust the quarrel : By means of ackuow- 



$6 

ledgment of error, by reason, by argument ? O no ! 
This magnanimous conquest of pnde, and passion, 
and seif, the deceiver has taught them to consider 
cowardice : their manner of settling the afl'air, 
must be by means of steel and bails : these are 
the arguments to which each party resort, leaving 
the worthy part of society to think that both cham- 
pions are ahke unprincipled ; both alike cowards 
of opinion, and slaves of passion. 



MEDITATION. 

When I meditate on the long suffering patience 
of God, 1 am lost in wonder and praise I How 
many and aggravated have been my provocations, 
and still 1 am spared that I may repent. I have 
too long been a cumberer of the ground ; the 
good fruit of the Holy Spirit I have not brought 
forth, so to reward the labour of the heavenly 
husbandman. My Lord, who planted, and 
daily bedewed me with his choicest blessings, 
looked for grapes, and have I yielded only 
•Wild grapes ; but still I am not cut down ! — 
Teach me, Lord, to be long-suffering, weaned so 
much from exactions for self, as to feel no emotion 
of anger for personal injury, or provocation. For • 



SI 

the meek alone shall inherit the earth, when thy 
will shall be done as in heaven ! 



PRAYER. 

Our Father who art in Heaven ! constrain iis by 
the power of thy good spirit to yield up our hearts, 
with all our first and warmest affections to thee! 
Forbid, Lord, that (having known thy revealed 
mind from our youth.) we should devote our early 
years, and our prime of life, to the service of the 
world, the Devil, and self: and afterwards provoke 
thee to just anger, by offering thee the sin- 
worn remnant of our age, when not the will, but 
the power to sin, becomes extinct. Henceforth I 
determine by thy help, to offer up soul and body 
to thee, my Redeemer, as a living sacrifice, which 
is my reasonable service ! 1 desire not only to be 
free from the punishment of sin hereafter, but to 
be free from its dominion here. Lord take forci- 
ble and entire possession of my heart ! When its 
affections ebb, let it be to centre in thee! and 
when they flow forth, let it be in thy service ! I 
ask this and every blessing, in the name and for 
the sake of my Lord and Saviour. Amen. 



38 



HYMN. 

« Giver of concord, Prince of Peace 
Meek lamb-like Son of God ! 
Bid our unruly passions cease — 

Efface them hy thy blood. 
Then shall we find the ancient way, 
** The wondering world to move ; 
** Again fierce disputants shall say, 

" * See mow these Christians love !' 5> 



Not slothful \ti business ; but, fervent in spirit 
serving the Lord,^'^ is an injunction exemplified in 
the lives of Christ, and his apostles. Sloth is a 
base and degrading characteristic of the natural 
heart. Man in a savage, barbarous, and degene- 
rate state, is slothful. Activity of mind and body, 
are attributes of the christian character : their time, 
and every other talent, are considered a loan to be 
improved by industry : so that when an account 
of their stewardship is demanded, they may not be 
found unprofitable servants. 

The wise Monarch of Israel, bids the sluggard 
"go to the antj^^ in order to receive instruction 
and reproof. The bees are ^Iso a wise communi- 



39 



ty, from which man may derive much instruction: 
their labours are not selfish, but social : each fur- 
nishes some part of the common stock of provi- 
sion : those who refuse to work, are not permitted 
to partake of the sweets which joint labour has 
furnished. 

However shameful is this disposition, and how- 
ever deplorable are its results to society, there is 
a much more lamentable and common expressioa 
of it in that sphere of duty w^hich man as a ration- 
al, accountable, and immortal being, was intended 
to adorn. There are persons as active and 
as wise in making temporal provision for the 
future, as the ants or bees ; who nevertheless are 
sluggards, where the interests of their soul are 
concerned : they have fallen sound asleep, and 
dream that without strivmg^ they may enter into 
the strait gate ; without knocking^ the door of 
mercy will open to them ; without sttking^ thev will 
find salvation ; without doing the will of his Father, 
they will be acknowledged by Christ when they 
only call him Lord ! Lord f ^ ^ ^ * * * * 

The slothful professor has not the feeling of love 
to the Saviour in his heart ; for this would redeena 
his time from waste ; it would impel him to be ac- 
tive in improving this, and every other loan, frona 
his heavenlj Father. When those faculties which 
are capable of becoming exalted, expanded, and 



40 



enlightened by exertion in their proper sphere^ be- 
come by slothfulness, torpid and unprofitable ; how 
mast the sluggard be terrified, when the account of 
his stewardship is demanded by an all righteous 
Judge ? Alas! like the spider^s airy web, his long 
cherished delusion vanishes. He now finds that 
speculative faith is a deception of Satan's own con- 
trivance : he now finds that God is not an arbitrary, 
hat a righteous sovereign ; not reaping where he 
never sowed, nor requiring what he never gave. 
He is then taught, but too late, that not the igno- 
rant, but unbelieveYs, hypocrites, liars, &c, are ex- 
cluded from those blessings which the blood of 
Christ had power to procure for the world. 



MEDITATION. 

When I contemplate the histoj^ of Christ my 
master ! — vv^hen I consider his dnwearied activity 
in doing good to the souls and bodies of those 
among whom he sojourned, I am ready to blush 
for shame at my siaggishness of soul and mind. — 
How often have I seen difficulties in the path of 
duty, rising like mighty sT^ouiitains ; and instead of 
going on in the spirit of true faith, I have been dis- 
mayed : yet blessed be l> y name, and be it testi- 
fied to thy giory, tliy servants have found these 



41 



mountain-like difliciilties disappear^ as often as in 
true faith they have gone feariessly forth leaning 
upon the divine Redeemer! Heavenly Father! 
give me that activity which love to thee, and gra- 
titude to my Redeemer, inspires ! Then when I 
am no longer fettered by any weight, not even 
the sin wdiich most easily besets me, I shall run 
without being weary or faint in my prescribed 
path of duty : Like the rising sun, I shall go forth 
increasing in glory as I advance on my way, I 
have got a sight of my native sin, and loathe it : 
and by thy grace, I have learnt to taste the sweets 
of holiness, love, and peace ! Never leave me, 
never forsake me, O my heavenly Father! lest if 
left to myself, I should fall into temptation, and 
thus grieve thy holy spirit. I have now no more 
relish for the gross and insipid husks which the na- 
tural heart covets: I desire to be fed witli the 
bread which came from heaven, for the life of my 
immortal being: having; tasted the blessing of free- 
dom/rom sin, let me die, rather than be again en- 
slaved hy its pow er. 

I give myself to thee wholly : take my heart, 

and reign there its Lord and love for ever. 

Amen- 



5 



42 



Ye indolent and slothful rise ! 
View the ant's labours, and be wise i 
She has nog-uide (o point her way, 
No ruler chiding her delay.— 
^' Yet see with what incessant cares 
She for the winter's storm prepares ; 
In summer she provides her sweets, 
And Autumn her research completes. 

jBut when will sluggish fools arise ? 
" How long shall sloth seal up their eyes ? 

Sloth more indulgence still demands ; 

Sloth shuts the eyes, and fold the hands ; 
** But mark the end : — want shall assail 

When youthful strength and vigour faih 
^' Just retribution on shall rush. 

Their vain delusive hope to crush, 



Sensuai^ity is a base passion. Self is the idoi 
of the sensuahst : Its early stage discovers itself in 
children who have a special regard to themselves 
in all they think^ say^ and do. When I see a boy 
selecting for Aim.se//' what he considers the best of 
every thing, this disposition assures me that he will 
be a sordid character tlirough life, the slave of his 



43 



passions, and his will be ignoble pursuits, and dis- 
honorable gains. To expect that such a charac- 
ter will aspire after moral or intellectual improve- 
ment, is as vain as to expect that a bat can be 
taught to love day-light. Such characters exem- 
plify that the curse of the serpent extends to those 
he tempts to love themselves : they grovel in the 
mire, and eat dust: when a selfish boy, who loves 
ease too much to improve his mind, and refine his 
taste by study, becomes a man ; he is truly an ob- 
ject of disgust : his impurity of heart evinces itself 
by grossness of expression : even people who are 
not regulated by the decisions of religion, shun 
such a pest. Education has refined their minds ; 
and of such a person they say, he is a brutal fel- 
low he was baptized with water without his 
own consent, and this is all the title which he has 
to the name of christian. Such a mere animal 
would be quite out of his element in the society of 
'Mioly angels, and the spirits of just men made 
perfect to him, holiness, peace, and love, would 
be misery : his passions are his masters, and hell is 
their kindred sphere. But if there are under the 
christian name multitudes of such characters who 
assimilate more with the brutes that perish, than 
with man as a rational and immortal being, there 
is another class equally self-worshippers, who may 



44 



be characterized as the insects of fashion* Lai^Q 
cities swarm with these ephemera, who flutter 
from one trifling pursuit to another, with the same 
claim to reason as the gaudy and trifling butterfly 5 
for neither they, nor the restless insect they re- 
semble, provide for the time to come. 

''A fooV says the wise man, "may be known 
by his laughter, manner, and attire," even before 
he confirms the fact by speaking. Again : The 
eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth : self- 
knowledge he has none. The wise heathen max- 
im, Know thyself," has never entered his ear., 
Such characters instinctively shun any exposure of 
their heart, even to themselves. There the goods 
of their strong master are secure. Should truth 
in the form of a cherub, declare that their hearts 
are deceitful above all things, desperately wick- 
ed ; like the deaf adder they would close their ear 
against such information ; they would refuse to be 
charmed to self-knowledge, though wisdom herself 
should charm them ever so wisely. 

When I meditate on the great, the magnanimous 
souls, whose histories are recorded in the holy 
book of God, I am covered with shame and confu- 
sion. Moses chose rather to suffer affliction with 
the people of God, (in the faith of participating in 
their promised glory) than to enjoy a luxurious life 



45 



ill the court of Egypt. Abraham simply trusting 
in the promise which God revealed to him, left his 
native land, and went forth in faith^ not knowing 
whither, or for what purpose. This the Lord re- 
vealed when he set out on his journey^ but not be- 
fore. Daniel, a man greatly beloved for the sanc- 
tity of his character, chose to subsist on pulse, 
rather than revel in the luxury of the king's ban- 
quets. He refused to obey the king's order to 
cease from praying to the Almighty, and was thrown 
into a den among fierce lions, whom God restrained 
from harming him. Such was his faith in the om- 
niscience of God, and of his power to protect 
those who trust in him ; that the lions'^ mouths zvere 
shut by it : they dared not harm him. 



PRAYER. 

O Holy Father! enable me to strive against my 
besetting sins. Give me power to prevail against 
those principalities and strong-holds, which Satan 
has so long fortified for himself in my heart. 1 
know that our present state of existence is a state 
of probation ; that here we are to be proved and 
tried, in order that the use or abuse of our privile- 

5^ 



leges, may determine our eternal destination.^ I 
know that it is only they who overcome the world^ 
the Devil, and the flesh, that shall have a right to 
that tree of life, which is in the midst of the para- 
dise of God ; even the true vine ! O give me a 
child-hke confidence in thy word, written for my 
instruction by thy faithful servants, and dictated 
by thy holy spirit ; give me a teachable and sub- 
missive spirit, that when I sit at the feet of Jesus 
to hear his commands, I may obey them. 
I ask all in the name of my Redeemer. 

Amen* 

^* Lord, if thou tliy ^race impart, 
" Self and sin shall leave my heart ; 

I shall as my master be 
" Adorned with meek humility. 
^« Simple, teachable, and mild, 

Changed into a weaned child. 

Pleased with all thy word decides, 
" Weaned from all the world besidesv 

Father, fix my heart on thee ! 
" Thine would its affections be! 

All its treasure is above, 

Where reigneth Christ— its light and loYeJ^ 



47 



The apostle enjoins christians to " let their 
moderation (or temperance) be known to all 
men." This moderation has unhappily, in mo- 
dern times, been in many instances transferred 
from its original application, namely, the things of 
this worldj to the things which belong to our etej^- 
nal peace. Here a lamentable moderation pre- 
vails ; while much superfluous extravagance con- 
tradicts the apostolic injunction. The wants of 
nature are few, and easily supplied ; and in a ha- 
bitual temperance, there is great reward ; for not 
only the body is thus preserved from languor, 
disease, and suffering, but the mind is healthful 
and vigorous, with no intercepting clog to with- 
hold comnaunion with its risen Lord, and that 
eloud of witnesses who, although withdrawn in 
body, are yet present in spirit, to instruct and 
comfort believers. On the contrary, to abuse by 
intemperance those good things which God hath 
bestowed for a temperate nse^ is to lay up a store 
of physical as well as moral evil for the time to 
come* Who hath redness of eyes ? saith the wise 
man : who hath babbling, and hurts without cause ? 
They that tarpy long at the winej fee Who hath 



48 



sleepless nights, and a diseased mind and body ? 
They that wallow in luxurious abundance, " whose 
God is their belly." 

When I have seen a table groaning under cost- 
ly and successive variety of vitiated blessings, I 
have contrasted this prodigal waste with the scan- 
ty meal of penury. How many destitute widows 
and orphans I have said, might be relieved from 
the gnawings of hunger by the very refuse of 
these voluptuaries. Insult not the majesty of hea- 
ven, ye votaries of riot and waste, by invoking 
with affected grimace, his blessing on your abuse 
of his gifts. Be consistent. Your banquet declares 
that ye refuse to obey his precepts. Aggravate not 
his indignation by asking a blessing on his dis- 
honoured laws. Be not deceived God is 
not mocked : " They that sow to the flesh, shall of 
the flesh reap corniption.^^ An asp lurks in the 
wine cup to sting you ; and diseases of every form 
lay in ambush in that vitiated profusion. 

Our Lord and master was strictly temperate ; 
and he admonishes his followers to take no 
thought what they shall eat or drink, nor with 
what they shall be clothed. Even Heathen 
worthies have been remarkable for inculca* 
ting and practising temperance. It constituted 
one of their most eminent virtues. Nobility of 



49 



saul was never associated with the characteristics 
of an epicure or glutton. The character whom 
our Lord represents as awaking from his sensual 
dream in hell, is not accused of any positive 
breach of the law of God ; but he fared sumptu- 
ously, while he neglected a destitute child of God, 
who desired the crumbs, or refuse of his table. 
Another sensuahst is represented as saying, " Soul 
take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry, for thou 
bast much store laid up for many years," Ta 
whom God replied, Thou fool, this night thy 
soul shall be required of thee ; for whom then hast 
thou provided these things ?" Our Lord not on- 
ly recommends uniform temperance, but occasion- 
al fasting. When besought to heal a youth who 
had a certain evil spirit ; this kind, said he, can on- 
ly be expelled by pj^ayer and fasting. To attempt 
drawing the attention of this lowest grade of man, 
to the enlightening and purifying truths of divine 
revelation^ is as inconsiderate as it would be to throw 
pearls before swine, in the hope that they would 
be enabled by a miraculous change of nature to 
appreciate them : both animals must hopelessly 
wallow in their congenial mire. O fallen man I 
zvho, seeing thy inglorious slavery and sordid des- 
tiny, would for one moment question, that humaa 
nature, and human intellect in thee, is sunk to the 
level of animal instinct ? 



60 



PRAYER. 

Merciful Father ! I have the will to come tct 
thee, that I may become thy child, grant me the 
power ! My prayers are not yet inspired by 
filial gratitude. They are like the cry of the 
young raven, which yet thou deignest to hear, I 
cannot yet hope that thou wilt hear my supplica- 
tion as those of thy obedient children ; for, alas, I 
have not yet the claim of thy friend — but because 
of rny importunity 1 know thou wilt answer me in 
peace. Lord ! I pray not for the distinction, 
wealth, or reputation of this vain world. I ask 
that I may receive the gift of thy Holy Spirit ! to 
illumine what is dark in me — to ennoble what is 
sordid^ — to expand what is contracted — to elevate 
what is mean. I have seen what a hateful thing 
sin is ; 1 abhor and detest the crooked serpent 
in every shape of evil he assumes to tempt and 
deceive — I admire virtue, and love peace ! I de- 
sire to grow in grace and in the knowledge of my 
Lord and Saviour ; but I am weak, and I distrust 
myself. I would, as a little child who makes a 
first effort to stand upright, cling to thy proffered 
aid ; conscious that if 1 take one step, even to- 
ward thee, trusting in my own ability, I shall falL 



61 



Lead nie and guide me in the path of life which 
conducts to peace, for the sake of thy beloved 
Son. 

Amen. 



HYMN. 

While wordlj men with all their might 
" Their worthless cheats pursue, 
How slow is each advance I make 
" With Christ my Lord in view ! 
^' Inspire my soul with holy zeal, 

My cold dead heart inflame — • 
Keligion without zeal and love 

Is but an empty name. 
To gain the rest of Zion hill, 
" May I unwearied strive ; 
And all those powers employ for thee 

W^hich I from thee derive." 



53 



This heart represents one who has had a sight 
of death and judgment. Many must be laid on 
beds of sickness, before they permit themselves to 
think on this alarming subject. When the sinner, 
conscious of guilt, expects to be launched into that 
eternal existence for which he has made no prepa- 
ration, the vanities of the world lose their power 
to fascinate. Sometimes on recovering, this salu- 
tary conviction is retained ; but in most cases, with 
health, the sinner returns to his wallowing in the 
mire. The holy spirit is ever ready to act in con- 
cert with the first emotion of this conviction* 
Sometimes a continued will to sin repels its stri- 
vings. In other cases, its admission is permitted, 
and its stay secured by using the appointed means 
for growing in grace. 

When the husbandman has ploughed and sow- 
ed, he may pray to Him, who by giving sunshine 
and rain can crown his labour with a good har- 
vest ; but without using these means, he has no rea- 
son to expect a crop as an answer of prayer. U 
is equally vain to dream that the influence of the 
great spirit, which is as sunshine and refreshing 
showers, w^ouid produce the good fruits of the 
spirit, without the co-operation of the qfl-^ec- 
tion and wilL When affliction, or some other 
cause, ploughs the heart, the affection and will 

6 



54 



must receive the precious truths of revelation ; thus 
taking root, thej soon yield the peaceable fruits of 
righteousness. Watchfulness and prayer are 
equally to be observed, as the means of guarding 
the heart from the re-admission of temptation. 

Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation.^^ 
If these duties could be dispensed with in us, why 
are they so solemnly, so repeatedly urged upon us 
by our heavenly Father? Would he say, "My 
sou^ give me thy heart," if it was not in our pow- 
er to give or withhold its affections ? Why would he 
bid us cease to do evil, and learn to do well, if we 
were no more than passive machines ? What means 
our Lord and Saviour, when he says, " Behold, I 
stand at the door and knock !" JVfiy^ and for what^ 
dear child, does thy Saviour stand knocking at thy 
heart, but for admittance ? He Would call its 
affections his own ! Surely thou wilt not refuse 
him ! Has he not bought thee with the price of his 
blood ? To whom then dost thou belong but to 
him who gave himself for thee ? A death-bed re- 
pentance, as it is termed, is in many cases a lamen- 
table delusion. How can God be reconciled to 
those who have given the service of their youth 
and prime to the Devil, the world, and self, and 
have spurned the instructions, invitations, and 
warnings of his beloved son, whom he sent into 



55 



the world io purify unto himself a peculiar people 
zealous of good works ? Not filial love, but slavish 
fear of punishment, compels their tardy submis- 
sion. What ! shall Christ become thus the minis- 
ter of sin ? Shall the mere confession which fear 
has extorted from alarmed consciousness, serve as 
a passport to that society who have fought the good 
fight of faiths and obtained the victory over 
those very enemies, which the unregenerated have 
served and obeyed T Why is the gospel hid to 
any ? The apostle solves the question : " The god 
of this zvorld has blinded them ; they have been led 
captives by him at his wilL^'^ Can Christ and Belial 
assimilate ? Can holiness and polhition reign to- 
gether ? No ! Such characters are not branches of 
the true vine ; neither will he own their too late 
cry of Lord ! Lord ! O it is a fatal delusion, 
from which thousands have awaked in those 
flames which just retribution has kindled. — 
The case of the pardoned thief on the cross bears 
no affinity to such infatuated presumption. He 
believed in Christ as soon as he knew him : both 
his knowledge of him, and his faith, were at the 
last hour of life ; but the modern sinner has siu- 
ned against line upon line and precept upon pre- 
cept. During his whole life he has shghted his 
proffered mercy, and neglected his great salvation. 



56 



Tremble then, ye who delay repentance till the 
horrors of a death-bed shall surround you. Instead 
of receiving the salutation of "Well, done good 
and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy 
Lord," to such it shall righteously be said, " Whea 
I called, ye would not answer; when I spake, ye 
would not hear ; but did choose that in which I 
delighted not : therefore, I will laugh at your ca- 
lamity, and mock when your fear cometh as de- 
solation." The unimproved loan shall be taken 
from the unprofitable steward, and given to that 
servant who gained an increase by a beneficial 
improvement of the talents he received. These 
are the declarations of Christ — these are the tests 
by which he judges: and an angel from heaven 
cannot reverse them. 



j 




'•I 
1 



57 



The third heart exhibits a more advanced stage 
of the spirit's influence, in him who has had a 
view of death and judgment. Much depends now in 
using the means of growing in grace. Vigilance and 
watchfulness are required to guard against the sur- 
prisals of temptation, which the dethroned enemy 
will not fail to renew. Fervent prayer is also in- 
dispensable ; for only those who ask shall receive 
power to withstand that guileful fascination, which 
the enemy now assumes. The constant and assi- 
duous study of the revealed mind of God^ is the 
third means within our power. Satan cannot 
break this three-fold cord: Thus the spirit (not 
being grieved nor resisted) carries on the work of 
sanctification, until the babe in (>hrist attains the 
stature of a perfect christian character. 

But if the sinner who has obtained a view of 
death and judgment, fails to make use of these ap- 
pointed means for progressing in the christian life, 
he shall fall away : the good seed which fell on a 
stony place soon withered, because it lacked 
depth and moisture. If for waiit of strivings and 
askings and seeking^ the influence of the spirit 
withdraws from his heart, and his love waxes cold, 
it were better that he had never heard of the way 
of salvation, and the holy commandaient delivered 
unto him ; for he shall be speechless before his 
6'^ 



58 



judge. The heathen are in a safer condition, if 
from ignorance they sin and worship stocks and 
stones. They have a cloak for their sin : and if Je- 
sus was never made known to them as their sa- 
viour and teacher, they can urge as a plea, that 
they have never refused him, nor resisted his spirit, 
the onl^ sin which he cannot forgive. The fourth 
Heart represents such an one. This class involves 
various grades ; from the lukewarm formalist, who 
has the form of religion, while he denies its power, 
up to the party zealot, who contends for specula- 
tive opinion. Characters of this kind would be 
shocked and surprised to have it even hinted by 
an angel from heaven, that they are in a more dan- 
gerous state than the heathen, whom they have 
probably, with very little reluctance, doomed to 
everlasting misery for the crime of ignorance* 
They are punctual attenders of outward ordinan- 
ces ; but unhappily rest there. They have not 
omitted an occasional reading of the scriptures; 
but they have never studied them. Instead of 
''asking'' io prayer the enlightening and sanctify- 
ing gift of the holij spirit^ who is promised on these 
terms, and whose office it is to lead into all truth! 
human commentators and expositors have been 
applied to for tliis purpose : ^AaV judgment is re- 
lied on J their opinions are imbibed ; while, could 



59 



they exercise a small portion of discernment, they 
would learn from the contradictory nature of their 
opinions, that they have also failed to apply (as 
little children) to the SOURCE of all truth, for the 
gift of his " spirit^ which searcheth all things^ yea 
even the deep things of God.'''^ The higher grade 
of this character has, in addition to these charac- 
teristics, a persecuting zeal : they have their heads 
filled with speculative theory, but there is no love 
in their hearts : the sacred fire has subsided into 
ashes and smoke : these are the characters whom 
the second coming of Christ, as the bridegroom of 
his church, shall surprise by stealth. They cal- 
culated on o^Aer circumstances than those which 
he has chosen, to bespeak his approach. Thev are 
surprised with the empty lamps of profession in 
their hand : instead of being replenished with the 
holy fire of love, fed from the source of divine 
light, truth and wisdom. 



61 



The fourth Heart represents one of whom the 
glorified Saviour thus speaks : 1 know thj works, 
that thou art neither cold nor hot. — I wish that 
thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art 
lukewarm I will cast thee out. Such an one says, 
I am rich — I want nothing, and knoweth not that 
he is poor, wretched, miserable, bhnd, and naked. 
The language of the judge again is : I counsel thee 
to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou may- 
est be rich and white raiment, that thou mayest 
be clothed, and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, 
that thou mayest see. As many as I love I rebuke 
and chasten : Be zealous therefore and repent. 
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any 
man hear my voice and open the door, I will 
come in to him, and sup with I 'm, and he with 
me.'' Such persons frequently pass through the 
mechanical business of religion with great punc* 
tuality. They go to church, and participate in 
the memorials of the Lord's broken body and shed 
blood ; they also devote set times to read pious 
books ; and even the holy scripture is not altoge- 
ther forgotten, but their favourite commentators 
must guide them through what appears to inexpe- 
rienced vision deep waters and inaccessible moun- 
tains. This character has the dead form of reli- 
gion — the living spirit is gone, or never existed 



62 



there. Such an expression of duty as, " Lord, 
what wilt thou have me to do never breaks on 
the complacent torpor of that nominal professor. 
The outward means of grace are beautiful in iheir 
order, and all needful to build up ; but these pri- 
vileges ought not to supersede the still more ur- 
gent duties of searching the scripture, prayer and 
watchfulness : the former may be compared to the 
golden candlestick ; bat the latter is the holy oil 
which keeps alive the fiame of devotion. The pe- 
cuhar set of opinions they adopt have been hand- 
ed down from their forefathers, just like any other 
property. They are called protestants because 
their remote ancestors protested against some gla- 
ring corruption ; but any corruption may exist for 
those who have a name to hve^ and are dead. 




ry/ y/^^y ^y^rr.)/ . Jr we^e ^e^er nat to A62ve Mtcm^n 

, c^/7vr/ui7id/?/tVit Uirnjnmi it. It is t^7i^po/:?itteJor t/iose wAo 
IV (^/r 07zef e/cti^c/tUened ^d Aave tasted dze //7?c>d wo/d of 6^od & t/i€ 
P'jwer of die wo7-id to co77ze if tAey s/udt Jtid awa^, to 7'e/t€w t/i^m 



63 



This Heart exhibits that state of hopeless apos- 
tacy, which is characterized in holy writ by the 
imagery of" Trees twice dead, plucked up by the 
roots." 

They have trodden under foot the means which 
God appointed for their salvation ; and they have 
done despite to the spirit of grace : There remains 
therefore, no more sacrifice for their sin, but a 
fearful looking for of judgment, which shall devour 
the adversaries." It is impossible to renew them 
unto repentance again; seeing they crucify the 
Lord of glory afresh, and put him to open shame. 

Our Redeemer illustrated the hopeless case of 
the backshder by a parable. The evil spirit 
which had been driven out of a man, is represent- 
ed by him as going about seeking rest ; and finding 
none, he saith, 1 will return to the abode from 
whence I came. The evil spirit knew well, that if 
he should be admitted a second time, he would 
have rest^ for it w^ould then be impossible to de- 
throne him. He seized a fit opportunity when the 
man was offhis guard 5 he gained admittance; he 
entered the Heart which had once been his pollu- 
ted habitation, and found it empty, swept, and gar- 
nished. This change had been effected by the 
holy spirit. Not only its native passions were 
gone ; but it was free from any trace of them : nay^. 



64 



it was adorned with some of the graces of the spi- 
rit, instead of them. How lamentable, that at such 
a stage of advancement in the new life, the man 
should be lost, only because he had neglected to 
zvatch and pray against the power of temptation ! 
How sad, that the subtle enemy should have ta- 
ken advantage of the moment when he had laid 
aside that armour with which the word of God was 
stored for his supply. That evil one took to him- 
self seven spirits more wicked than himself, in or- 
der to secure his continuance. These evil spirits, 
brought back all his former depraved passions, 
and perverted affections : and that Heart became 
the image of hell : and its latter end was worse 
than its beginning. Such characters are scattered 
as tares among the wheat : both are permitted to 
grow, and in some measure be associated, until the 
harvest, when they shall be cut down and gather- 
ed in bundles, to be thrown into the fire. Their 
self-tormenting consciousness of abused mercies is 
Compared to a worm which dieth not ; and the in- 
exorable wrath of God, which their ingratitude 
has kir^^died, shall be to them an unquenchable 
4ame, to burn without purifying them forever.— 
There is no repentance in the abyss of outer dark- 
ness. Hope there assumes the name and charac- 
ter o{ despair : weeping, wailing, and gnashing of 



65 



teeth, are the varieties of their experience. Thejr 
weep at having refused instruction ; and rejected 
every offer of mercy. They wail, because of 
their folly and madness in selling their heavenly 
birthright for the base pleasures of sin. They 
gnash their teeth, for envy of those whom they 
see coming from the east, and west, and north, and 
south, to sit down in the heavenly kingdom, with 
Christ and his faithful servants, (who have denied 
themselves to follow him,) while ^Aey cannot pro- 
cure even a momentary respite from their intole- 
rable misery, aggravated by self-reproach* O dear 
youth, turn ye, turn ye, for why would ye create 
for yourselves an eternity of horror and despair, 
of weeping aiid wailing, when you are invited 
to join that happy company who surround the 
throne of the Majesty on high, singing his praise 
with hearts overflowing w^ith grateful adoration ? 
The everlasting fire was not prepared for you^ ye 
children of men, but for the Devil and his angels. 
O delay not, dear children and youth, to come to 
Christ, for he hath said, that " whosoever cometh 
unto him, he will in no wise reject : Whosoever 
will, let him come, aiid take of the water of lift 
freely.'^ Know ye not that ye were chosen by 
God to be conformed to the image of his son ?— 
The foreknowledge of God enabled him to know 




.//^^v// rvM .sj?^7rA?. ^/v///- /// /////// /^///V' r/vyz/.'// ////// /// 



69 



The heart of the philosopher exhibits the sub- 
jugation of the meaner passions bj the power of 
reason and philosophy. The study and love of 
science, history, languages, and works of master 
minds, have contributed to cultivate his mind and 
refine his intellectual taste. Every thing base in 
principle and gross in manners shocks and disgusts 
him ; he is as far removed from the grade of the 
sensuahst as the lion is from that of the mole. 
Both are unregenerated animal nature ; but the one 
has in his studies and pursuits recognized mind, 
and the other body alone. 

But after all, with this contempts of every ig- 
noble pursuit and sordid action, the splendid edi- 
fice of morals, taste, and imagination, which the 
philosopher has raised to immortalize his name, 
is built on a sandy foundation ; his own urirenewed 
will and affections being the only security of its 
existence. When all is calm sunshine, it wears 
its imposing aspect on high, as if it were for a 
length of time to be the admiration of every eye 5 
but the wintry storms of adversity — -of bereave- 
ment — of disease, beat upon it ; and not being 
founded upon the rock of ages, it falls. Adversity 
finds the theorist unprepared for its bitter practi- 
cal experience — bereavement of his idols, incura- 
bly lacerates his heart. He becomes disgusted 



70 



with life and society. His fine and susceptible 
mind, whose powers had been quickened by cul- 
tivation in that intellectual sphere which he un- 
duly prized, has lost the objects on which his 
affections centred ; he sinks under the weight of 
bis visitation ; he is the prey of melancholy, or 
subsides into a gloomy misanthrophy. When 
the discipline of the Creator secures its design in 
turning such characters from the love of idols to 
the love of the Saviour, to whom they are bound 
by every tie of duty, affection, and gratitude^ 
they become burning and shining lights to the 
world ; such an one was Saul of Tarsus — such 
an one was Moses. 

What is the proud name of philosopher but a 
sound ? They are theorists ; but practical phi- 
losophy is mo^i frequently illustrated by true 
christians, and that in every rank of society. 
The poor cottager has here far outdone the p 
losopher ; his philosophy did not forsake, but for- 
tify "him at the hour of death. What is philosophy ? 
Is it not to be resigned and contented under every 
vicissitude of fortune ? Is it not to be possessed of 
that magnanimity of soul which is neither elated 
with prosperity nor depressed by adversity ? Is 
it not to meet death undismayed, not with stoical 
insensibility of ikis terrors, but with the conviction 



71 



that the Redeemer has deprived him of his sting, 
and the grave of its triumph ? Is it not with the 
dark valley full in view, and when about to leave 
what the heart holds dear on earth, to be able 
to say " 1 know in whom I have believed^ and that 
he is able to keep that which I have committed to him 
against the great day.^^ 

Our Lord informs us, that which is highly esteem- 
ed among men (in philosophy and every other mere 
profession) is abomination in the sight of God. 
However amiable and accomplished the philoso- 
pher may be, God accounts him an ungrateful, 
wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked rebel, 
having a heart at enmity with revealed truth. God 
has appointed that Jesus Christ shall be the 
way through whom all must come ; but the phi- 
losopher, like the sceptical Syrian, says of his 
unsanctified attainments, are not Abna and Phar- 
par, rivers in Damascus, better than the waters 
of Israel ? God cannot look without abhor- 
rence on a heart in which the evil passions still 
exist, however asleep they may be, while he has 
offered to bestow a power which is capable of ex- 
pelling them ; and nothing but a renewed heart he 
can own or behold with complacency. Unless ye 
be born again, O miscalled philosopher, ye cannot 
enter into the kingdom of God : other foundation 



72 



can no man lay than that which is laid, Christ 
Jesus. The ordeal which God has appointed to 
try men^s works in the latter day, will reveal whe- 
ther they have raised on it those Christian vir- 
tues which are compared to gold and precious 
stones, or those vain theories which are the crea- 
tures of their own device, and which, like wood, 
hay and stubble, are in their very nature unpro- 
fitable but as fuel to the fire. To the philosopher 
as well as to the sordid slaves of their passions, 
the call is, Avjake thou thatsleepest ! arise from 
the dead, and Christ shall give thee light 



73 



The Heart which has become a temple for the 
Holy Spirit^ holds communion with the Father and 
the son, having peace and joy in believing ! 

The will and affections are changed into obedi- 
ence and gratitude. The fruit of the holy spirit 
admits not of counterfeit. Love is the seal of its 
alliance to the holy one ; and the bond which 
unites the new creature to his whole, sinless, and 
ransomed family above, and on earth. 

" If ye love me," saith the Redeemer, " keep my 
Qommandments.^^ Happy they whose hearts are 
thus renewed after the image of the second Adam I 
Newness of life bears witness that they are indeed 
the children of God. They trust with implicit 
confidence in the guidance of their glorified Head. 
His will prompts every action ; dictates every en- 
terprize \ regulates every wish. Was he crucified 
to the blandishments of the world, which Heth in 
the wicked one ? Was he cold to its applause ; re- 
gardless of its censure ; dead to its attractions ? So 
are his members. Was he made perfect by suffer- 
ing ? So are they. Did he bear witness to Truth, 
regardless of personal consequence ? So do they. 
W as he reproached without a cause ? So are they* 
The servants are as their Lord. 

Wouldst thou be acknowledged, dear youth, by 
thy Lord, when he comes surrounded with hosts 



74 



of holy angels, to be admired by all who believed 
his testimony ? Wouldst thou participate in the 
glory then to be revealed ? Wouldst thou wear a 
Grown which shall never pass from thee ? Seekest 
thou to be one of those who shall be the first fruits 
of the first resurrection of believers ? One of those 
whom thy Lord calls blessed and holy, in being 
made partakers with him of that rest which re- 
maineth for the people of God ; of that heavenly 
kingdom, where his will shall be done on earth as 
it is in Heaven ? Art thou then that blessed youth, 
who walketh not in the way of sinners ; nor stand- 
eth in the counsel of the ungodly ; nor sitteth in 
the seat of the scorner ; but whose delight is in the 
law of the Lord, meditating therein day and night ? 
Dost thou hunger and thirst after Righteousness ? 
Dost thou pray for the guidance of thy Lord, and 
watch for the manifestations of his will, more than 
they that watch for morning ? Is thy soul as a 
weaned child to the allurements of the world, sin, 
and self? Dost thou dig for truth as for hid trea- 
sure, seeking wisdom before all worldly honors, 
gains, and rewards ? Dost thou prize those who 
are upright and virtuous, wherever, and under 
whatever circumstances they are found ? Hast 
thou an eye to discover, and a heart to love the 
image of thy Lord, whether those who bear it in- 



75 



habit a hut, or adorn a palace ? Couldst thou have 
discovered a constellation of heavenly attributes 
in Him, who was born in the stable, and cradled 
in the man^^er of Bethlehem ? Couldst thou have 
disceraed the diviae root and oiTspring of David, 
in the lowliest p]ant of the Jndcaa vailey : in oth- 
er words, art thoa free from ih^ blinding sins of 
prejudice and worldlij wisdom ? As a little child, 
willing to be instructed, dost thou sit at thy Sa- 
viour's feet, to hear his words? Then art thou, 
beloved youth, not far from the kingdom of ihy 
Lord. Such characters, and such alone, shall en- 
ter therein. The good Shepherd will bear thee, 
as it were, in his bosom, above the rough path of 
tribulation, which leadeth to rest and peace. — 
Those good angels, who are sent forth to minister 
to the heirs of salvation, watch over thee wUh un- 
remitting care. Their benevolent natures rejoice, 
that a ransomed child of the human family should, 
by the mediation of Him they adore, approach 
nearer the throne of the Holy One than they. — 
There was joy throughout their hosts, on the day 
thou turnedst thy heart to seek their Creator. — 
When thy Lord's voice was heard amid the still- 
ness of a cloud of witnesses, saying, My son, give 
me thine heart^'^'^ how did they rejoice, when 
thine heart replied. Lord, it is thine by creation, 



^6 



thine by redemption ; purify its affections, and ac- 
cept of them all as thy living sacrifice, and my rea- 
sonable service ! But, I tremble at the thought ! 
Can it be possible, that these animating truths are 
addressed to a youth who is dead in trespasses and 
sins ? who is as void of the noble ambition of God's 
dear children as the brutes who live by instinct, 
and perish without hope ? If thou canst not answer 
in the affirmative to the preceding questions, thou 
art such an one. Perhaps thou makest thy boast, 
that thou art negatively good : that is to say, thou 
dost not commit glaring immorahty. Admitting 
this to be the case, thou hast little cause of self- 
complacency : thou art convicted of that black, 
that monstrous crime, ingratitude; and that to- 
ward thy first benefactor ; to love and serve w^hom, 
thou art bound by every tie human and divine. — 
Art thou willing and content to wear out thy term 
of probation, deceiving and being deceived ; living 
in open rebellion against the authority and law of 
God, which constrains thee by every noble motive 
to serve him here, and reign with him hereafter ? 
Is it thy voluntary lot to grovel amid the perish' 
able enjoyments of animal nature, and at last 
experience that dust is thy portion ? Hast thou 
a human soul, and one spark of that spirit which 
was breathed into thy being with its life, and canst 



77 



thou slavishly endure the ignominious yoke of 
Satan's bondage, without one aspiring thought 
adev freedom from sin — without one magnanimous 
struggle to assert thy immortal character and 
claims ? Pluck out a right-eye passion — cut off a 
right-hand prejudice without hesitation, if thou 
wouldst yet be saved : let the vile idols on whom 
thou hast misspent thy service and worship, no 
longer provoke the holy one of Israel to anger» 
He cannot share thy heart with such abominations. 
Beware of procrastination : another, and another 
year hath the Father, at the intercession of his 
beloved Son, had patience with thee : another 
day, and he may say in his wrotli, cut down the 
unprofitable cumberer of the ground. Arise now^ 
O prodigal, and with a contrite heart return to 
thy heavenly Father from whom thou hast so long, 
so deeply revolted. If thou comest to him in the 
name of Christ, he wiii in no wise reject thee, 
for as his Majesty, so is his mercy to the peni- 
tent. O deceived youth, instantly determine 
— and having determined, linger not by the way 
—neither waste one moment in looking behind 
thee : danger is in delay — run in hesitation — 
and despair in turning back, none such being 
fit for the kingdom of God. 

Should mountain-like difSculties arise in terrific 
8 



78 



range to oppose thy return — should floods of tri- 
bulation threaten thee, fear not to go forward : 
these are unreal phantoms which the adversary 
has raised to frighten and seduce thee back to his 
bondage. Mountains oppose no barrier to true 
Faith ! Many waters cannot quench pure Love ! 



79 



The Heart on which the laws of God are writ- 
ten, is in a more advanced stage of the new hfe 
than the former ; not that it is more enhghtened, 
or more holy, or more devoted — but faith and the 
other fruits of the spirit are called into vigorous 
exercise in contending earnestly for the faith once 
dehvered to the saints, and in bearing testimony 
to Truth in opposition to popular prejudice. 

The Apostles of our Lord exhibited the higher 
grade of this matured stage of the new life. 

With what patience did they endure opposition 
and wrong — with what magnanimity did they follow 
their Lord without the camp bearing his reproach ! 
With what zeal did they prosecute the glorious 
object they had in view, even the work which he 
gave them to do, in his name, and for his glory ! 
How^ disinterested were their works of faith ! 
their labours of love ! 

We are, says Paul, troubled on every side, yet 
not disheartened ; perplexed, but not in despair; 
persecuted, but not forsaken ; cast down, but not 
destroyed. For our light affliction which is but 
for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceed- 
ing, an eternal weight of glory, while we look not 
at the things which are seen, but at the things 
which are unseen. Hear how the man who hath 



80 



the law of God written on his heart speaks : 
After that we had suffered before, and were 
shamefully entreated as you know, we were bold 
in our God to speak unto you the Gospel of our 
God with much contention, (or opposition.) For 
our exhortation was not of deceit, or of unclean- 
ness, or of guile ; but as we were permitted of 
God to be put intrust with the gospel, even so we 
speak, not as pleasing men, but God who trieth 
our hearts. 

" Neither at any time used we flattering words, 
as ye know ; nor a cloak of covetousness, God is 
witness* Nor of man sought we glory, neither of 
you nor of others, when we might have taken 
authority as the apostles of Christ ; but we were 
tender among you even as a nurse cherisheth her 
ehildren. So, being affectionately desirous of 
you, we were willing to have imparted unto you 
not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, 
because ye were dear to us. For ye remember, 
brethren, what labour and travail, for labouring 
night and day, because we would not be charge- 
able unto any of you, we preached unto you the 
gospel of God. Ye are witnesses, and God also, 
how holily, and justly, and unblameably we be- 
haved ourselves among you that believe. And 



81 



ye know how we exhorted every one of you as a 
father doth his children, that ye would walk wor- 
thy of God, who hath called } ou unto his kingdom 
and glorj." 

Blessed, says our Lord, are they who are per- 
secuted for righteousness'^ sake^ for theirs is the 
kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men 
shall reproach you, and say all manner of evil 
against joufahely for my sake. Rejoice and be 
exceeding glad, on their part he is evil spoken of, 
but on your part he is glorified. 

Some of the attributes of this stage of the new 
life, may grace a mud-walled cottage. The hum- 
ble cottager may be careful to observe the com- 
mandments of his heavenly Father to whom he 
prajs for his daily bread ; may train up his chil- 
dren to fear and love their Creator and Redeem- 
er in the days of their youth ; his heart may be 
pure, and his hands clean of dishonest gain ; he 
may abhor a perverting bribe ; and may so adorn 
the doctrine of God his Saviour that all who know 
him must acknowledge that blessed is the man 
who feareth the Lord and obeyeth his command- 
ments. 

The mother may so shine in her assigned 
sphere of duty, as to glorify her heavenly Father, 
having his laws written on her heart ; she may 



82 



give an earlj direction to the will and affections^ 
and establish the principles of her children; she 
may win their ductile minds to the love of noble 
and disinterested feeling and pursuits; she may 
represent vice in all its moral deformity so as to 
be an object of their detestation ; she may sow 
the precious seed of the word in their hearts, as 
yet uncorrupted by the contagion of example ; she 
may weed the moral soil, and plant therein the 
love of truth, integrity and virtue ; she may watch 
over the growth of these buds of promise. The 
unmarried may evince the sanne characters of the 
new life, by ministrations of compassion, sympa- 
thy and benevolence to the desolate widow, the 
helpless orphan, the sick, the aged, and the 
friendless stranger. 

Widows and women not having the care of fa- 
mihes of their own, may do offices of love to the 
homeless and friendless — may, as of old, be 
fellow labourers in the Gospel, and wash the 
feet of the saints. Even the youth may show 
the law of God written on their heart ; they may 
adorn the doctrine of their Lord by diligently 
seeking to know and do the will of God, and by 
abstaining from all appearance of evil. The 
young Samuel was, from his early childhood, de- 
voted by his pious mother to the service of the 
Most High, and to that little one the Lord revealed 



83 



himself ; for the child Samuel ministered before 
him in the temple ; and was commissioned to in- 
form old Eli of the punishment that awaited 
his sons, for they were exceedingly wicked in 
the sight of God ; and the foundation of that 
wickedness was in consequence of the false induU 
gence of their father, who restrained them not, nor 
corrected them. 

Our Lord was well pleased with the hosannahs 
of the children on a certain occasion, when he 
said to his disciples, have ye never read, that 
out of the mouth of little children God hath per- 
fected praise ?" There is something in the cha- 
racter and disposition of little children which the 
ijord loves. He referred to their simplicity, 
their implicit confidence, their obedience, their 
artless openness, their want of trust in them- 
selves, their purity of mind, their absence of hy- 
pocrisy and deceit, their fear of offending, and 
their perfect sincerity, when he said. Suffer the 
little Children to come to me, and forbid them 
not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. 



i 



85 



This Heart represents one who can say, " I have 
finished my course ; I have kept the faith ! Hence- 
forth there is laid up for me a crown of glory." 

In addition to the preceding stages of the new 
life, this veteran in faith and love, has stood sted- 
fast when assaulted by the combined powers of 
darkness. His faith is unshaken, for it is built on 
the Rock of ages ! That heart is fortified by a 
triple guard on the right hand, and on the left; it 
cannot be taken by surprise, because its affections 
are centred in the Redeemer. There is no mo- 
ment in which they are not exploring their trea- 
sure, or diffusing HIS blessings. His power to re- 
sist temptation is omnipotent ; for Christ, the wis- 
dom and power of God, has become the wisdom 
and power by whom he is made more than con- 
queror. There is now no condemnation for such 
a character. Neither death nor life, nor any cre- 
ated thing, can separate him from Christ, the life- 
breath of his renewed existence. Divine light 
clothes him as with a glory. The earth is under 
his feet : he looks down upon the world as a con- 
quered foe : he treads on serpents and scorpions, 
and all the powers of the enemy, and nothing can 
by any means hurt him. He is called and chosen, 
and faithful, and shall be of the first fruits of the 
first resurrection. There the remembrance of his 



88 



bring from the outskirts of the city the poor, the 
lame, the blind. These gladly accepted the invi- 
tation ; but the servant told his Lord that there 
w^as room for more guests. The master of the 
feast then commanded him, saying, ^' go out to 
the highways and hedges, and compel them to come 
in that my house may be filled, for I say unto 
you, that none of those men that were bidden shall 
taste of my supper.'' The explanation of this 
parable is contained in the verses which immedi- 
ately follow it. Whosoever he be of you^ thai 
forsaketh not all that he hath^ cannot be my dis-* 
ciple. 

In like manner the prescience of our Lord en- 
ables him to declare that comparatively few oi 
the highly privileged will, on these terms, eat 
bread in the Kingdom of Heaven, and if they re- 
fuse on account of self-interested motives, in any 
relation or shape^ those who they may consider 
unvvcrthy, shall supply their place ; yea^ the hea- 
then from the ends of the earth shall even, with- 
out adequate preparation, be compelled to come 
in rather than that the feast should be without 
guests ; rather than those hypocritical professors, 
who expected to arrive th»^re by means of a spe- 
culative dead faith, unassociated v^ith love and 
obedience, should partake of it. This is the doctrine 



89 



^ thy Saviour^ which an Angel cannot gainsay, 
nor reverse; but the time comes, saith the apostle, 
when thej will not give heed to sound doctrine, 
having itciiing ears ; that is to say, having no re- 
lish for that which demands sacrifice and obedience, 
but wholly giving themselves op to a curious in- 
truding into those things which are kept secret, 
and shall remain so ; as the nature and mode of 
the divine existence- — the deductions of reason 
from the sovereignty of God, his decrees, and such 
like; these theorists mistake the shadow for the 
substance ; they spend their lives in visionary spe- 
culations, without reflecting that while they thus 
trifle, they fail to give those practical dunonstru- 
ilons of their attachment v^^hich shall secure thetti 
an entrance into the kingdom of God. Your 
judge will not investigate the orthodoxy of your 
creedj but the evidence of your faith. He will not 
ask under what name or leader you rank yourself; 
not arbitrary power will divide between the sheep 
and the goats ; their own aciioyis will be made the 
separating cause. They who have done evil shall 
without one exception be found on his left hand* 
and those who have done good shall without fail 
be found at his right hand. To them on his right 
hand he thall say, Come ye blessed of my Father 
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the 
0 



§6 



suffering and sorrow hath passed away ; the days of 
his nnourning and conflict are ended : what he sow- 
ed in tears he shall reap in joy. The Lord whom 
he loved even unto death, now wipes all tears 
from his eyes 5 yea, he maketh that faithful servant 
sit down to meat, while he girds himself to serve 
him. Blessed I how blessed ! are the dead who 
die in the Lord^ who is their resurrection, their 
life ! Yea, saith the spirit, that they may rest from 
their labors and their works follow them. 

Dear child, dear youth : Thy Saviour invites 
thee to become, by regeneration^ such a noble spe- 
cimen of the christian character. The same spi- 
rit which has here been admitted, cherished, and 
by whom the work of grace was completed, strives 
for admission to thy heart ; and wilt thou grieve 
and resist the heavenly Comforter ? Wilt thou still 
be a wretched imitator of the children of this 
world, who devour the husks of animal nature, and 
grub like moles in the earth for that which is to 
the worldling the root of all evil, and which never 
faiJ's to pierce them with many sorrows ? Or wilt 
thou not rather aspire after the enjoyment of mind 
to which thy high destiny invites thee ? Compare 
the ignoble pursuits, the sordid character of the 
children of the world, the slaves of Satan, with the 
godlike fame of him who has subdued Satan, and 



87 



conquered self, and who gives glory, and honor, 
and praise, to Him in whose name and strength he 
won the victory. 

Dost thou expect^ dear youth, to sit down with 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of hea- 
ven ? Dost thou pray for this blessed lot at the 
end of thy days ? This is not enough. Art thou 
willing to fulfil the conditions of thy recer^tion 
there ? Canst thou make those sacrifices which 
are indispensable to thy admission ? Hear how 
the Divine Teacher illustrates this, to one who on 
a certain occasion said, without reflection, " Bless- 
ed are they who shall eat bread in the kingdom of 
God.^^ "A certain nobleman made a great sup- 
per, and invited many. At supper time he sent 
his servant to say, Came^ for all things are now 
ready but instead of accepting this invitation 
with gratitude, they all with one consent began to 
make pitiful excuses. Each had to attend some 
sinister object, in which self was concerned. A 
piece of land prevented one from accepting the in- 
vitation; another allowed a still more frivolous 
pretext to be his apology ; another found an equal- 
ly absurd reason for a refusal. When the servant 
told these things to his Lord, the Master of the 
House was angry or indignant that they should 
slight his society and feast, and that too for paltry 
concerns of their own. The servant was sent to 



88 



bring from the outskirts of the city the poor, the 
lame, the blind. These gladly accepted the invi- 
tation ; but the servant told his Lord that there 
was room for more guests. The master of the 
feast then commanded him, saying, " go out to 
the highways and hedges, and compel them to come 
in that my house may be filled, for I say unto 
you, that none of those men that were bidden shall 
taste of my supper." The explanation of this 
parable is contained in the verses which immedi- 
ately follow it. Whosoever he be of you^ that 
forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be my dis- 
ciple* 

In like manner the prescience of our Lord en- 
ables him to declare that comparatively few of 
the highly privileged will, on these terms, eat 
bread in the Kingdom of Heaven, and if they re- 
fuse on accoupxt of seif-ioterested motives, in any 
relation or shape^ those who they may consider 
unworthy, shall supply their place ; yea, the hea- 
then from the ends of the earth shall even, with- 
out adequate preparation, be compelled to come 
in rather than that the feast should be without 
guests ; rather than those hypocritical professors, 
who expected to arrive there by means of a spe- 
culalive dead faith, unassociated with love and 
obedience, should partake of it. This is the doctrine 



89 



of thy Saviour^ which an Angel cannot gainsay, 
nor reverse; but the time comes, saith the apostle, 
when they will not give heed to sound doctrine, 
having itching ears ; that is to say, having no re» 
lish for that which demands sacrificeandobedience, 
but wholly giving themselves up to a curious in- 
truding into those things which are kept secret, 
and shall remain so ; as the nature and mode of 
the divine existence — the deductions of reason 
from the sovereignty of God, his decrees, and such 
like; these theorists mistake the shadow for the 
substance ; they spend their lives in visionary spe- 
culations, without reflecting that v/hile they thus 
trifle, they fail to give tho^e practical dAmonstra- 
ilons of their attachment which shall secure them 
an entrance into the kingdom of God. Your 
judge will not investigate the orthodoxy of your 
creed^ but the evidence of your faith. He will not 
ask under what name or leader you rank yourself ; 
not arbitrary power will divide between the sheep 
and the goats ; their own actions will be made the 
separating cause. They who have done evil shall 
v/ilhout one exception be found on his left hand, 
and those who have done good shall without fail 
be found at his right hand. To them on his right 
hand he thall say, " Come ye blessed of my Father 
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the 
0 



90 



foundation of the world !" He then ennume- 
rates the proofs which they gave of their faith 
and love to him. To those who are at his left 
hand he says, Depart from me accursed, into 
everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his 
Angels. When 1 was an hungred, ye gave me 
no meat ; when 1 was athirst, ye gave me no 
drink ; when I was a stranger, ye took me not in ; 
when I was naked, ye clothed me not ; when I 
was sick and in prison, ye visited me not ; for in- 
asmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these^ 
my brethern, ye did it not to me.'' 

Seeing then, that this is the Truth ; and that ye 
have been duly w^arned of the consequence of 
slighting it, take heed that ye make your calling 
and election sure. In the language of the inspired 
Apostle, I entreat you, dear youth-"^ " Giving all 
diligence, to add to your faith virtue^ to virtue 
Jcnozvledge^ to knowledge temperance^ to tempe- 
rance patience, to patience godliness^ to godliness 
brotherly-kindness^ to brotherly-kindness charity ; 
for if these things be in you, and abound, they 
make you that ye shall neither be unsou nd nor 
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus 
Chriist. But he that lacketh these things is blind^ 



-•^^ 2 Peter, 1. 5. 



91 



and cannot see afar ofT, (or the encL) and hath for- 
gotten that he is purged from his old sins. Where- 
fore rather, brethern, give diligence to make jour 
calling and election sure ; for if ye do these things 
ye shall never fail ; for thus an entrance shall be 
ministered to you abundantly into the everlasting 
kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore I 
will not be negligent to put you ever in mind oi 
these things.^'^ The latter part of the verse I put 
to you in the form of a question : " Do you knozo 
these things ? are you established in this truth F'^^ 



SECOND PART. 



Having bj the light of revelation endeavoured 
to show the necessity of securing personal reli- 
gion ; I proceed to illustrate the progressive, ge- 
nerous, and diffusive nature of Christianity, which 
teaches us, that even the hope of personal salva- 
tion, and the peace and joy which arise from thai 
hope, are not to engross our attention, limit our 
exertions, bound our views, or absorb our feelingSo 
these being no longer selfish, but social. We are 
now to participate in all the vicissitudes of that 
visibly separated, yet invisibly united body of 
which our Lord is the Head. Do you ask what 
causes produce visible separation, and what invi- 
sible ties unite the members to their bead, and to 
each other ? Human names, opinions, and inven- 
tions separate what is visible— love, obedience, 
and purity, unite what is invisible to the whole 
family in heaven and on earth. These being 
the only ties acknowledged by God, they only 
can survive that jealous flame which shall in 



94 



the last days make inquisition of every visible 
association : the wood, hay and stubble shall be 
consumed, and that which cannot suffer loss shall 
remain. 

There is a time, dear youth, to be instructed 
into the rudiments of revealed truth ; and there 
is a time when we are expected to bring forth out 
of the treasures which we have laid up, things 
new and old, for the use of the less privileged 
members of our Lord's household. Paul sharply 
reproves certain characters, whom he character- 
izes as silly^ ever learning, and never able ta 
come to the kriawledge of the truth ; the whole 
counsel of God being revealed for our instruc- 
tion I of such persons our Lard said, " I have ma- 
ny things to say, but ye cannot hear them norx;.'^ 
To such persons Paul alludes^ when he would 
trace the nature of the divine priesthood of Christ 
which the mysterious king and priest of Salem 
prefigured many age$ before* " Of whom,'' says 
he, ^' I have many things to say, and hard to be 
imderstood, seeing ye are, dull of hearing ; for 
when for the time ye ought to be teachers^ ye 
have need that one teach you again, which be 
the first principles of the oracles of God, and are 
such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat ; 
for everv one who usetb milk is unskilful in the 



95 



word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But 
strong meat belongeth to them that are of full 
age — those who hij reason of use have their senses 
exercised to discern good and evil." 

What must we think of that student who, in- 
stead of progressing to the varied, luminous, and 
decisive demonstrations contained in a self-illus- 
trating sciences, should never attain to more than 
the knowledge of those scattered elements, with- 
out connection or result, which are found in its 
alphabet or rudiments? The Apostle John cha- 
racterizes three stages of attainment: little chil- 
dren — young men — and fathers. 

In the former part of this little book I have fed 
you with the milk which belongs to babes in di- 
vine knowledge but remember, the same pro- 
gress which takes place in the natural, is expect- 
ed in the renewed life : Leaving, therefore, the 
principles of the doctrines of Christ, let us go on 
to perfection let not be of those whom the 
apostle reproves as silly — ever learning, and ne- 
ver taught ; since the Word of God is revealed 
for the instruction of the lowest and least of the 
flock. 

The glorious expectation of the latter-day re- 
Bovatiou and restitution of all things, to which 



prophets, apostles, and our Lord have especiallj 
directed the attention of beUevers, as an incite- 
ment to fidehty, watchfulness and patience, clainn 
a full share of our regard. 

With reference to this blessed hape of his se- 
cond coming, our Lord's command is, Let your 
loins be girded about, and jour lamps burning, 
and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for 
their Lord i Blessed are those servants whom the 
Lord when he cometh shall find watching.'^^ 

At midnight, the season of darkness and security, 
when professors are slumbering, and the childrea 
of this world are fast asleep as to this expectation, 
the cry shall be heard, " Behold the Bridegroom ! 
go forth to meet him This anticipation of latter- 
day glory was once the delightful experience of 
his servants, from the days of Enoch to John, whose 
vision in the isle of Patmos was a revelation of Mes- 
siah's Kingdom on Earth. The warnings, exhor- 
tations, promises, and consolation of the prophets 
and apostles, were all with reference to this re- 
ward of Messiah's sufferings, this crown of his glo- 
ry, this consummation of his triumph. Our 
Lord, who knew the end from the beginnings 
foretold that there would be great blindness 
on this animating subject, in the latter times. 



97 



-when trans2;ressors are come to the full. Thus has 
he made watchfulness the subject of many warn- 
ings. Hence he declared, that as it was in the 
days of Noah and Lot, it shall be in the day when 
the Son of man is revealed ; for as a snare shall the 
manner of his coming be to the whole earth. The 
foolish who are ignorant of it, shall be surprised m 
the depth of carnal security ; and even the wise 
who believe in his coming as the Bridegroom of 
his Church, and who are thus far enabled to re- 
ceive him, shall yet not meet him in the attitude 
of watchful attention. Whatever the unwise do, 
let us who are of the day, not sleep as do others, 
but let Its zcatck and be sober, lest that day should 
overtake us by stealth. 

The prophets, apostles, and our Lord, teach us 
what constitutes the blessedness of his Kingdom OQ 
Earth, which in its nature and character is Hea- 
venly. One feature of its blessedness is the ab- 
sence of all sin and temptation ; another is, the 
universal love, peace, holiness and unity, which 
shall prevail on earth, where the will of God 
shall be done as in heaven. " The kingdoms of 
this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord 
and of his Christ. The whole earth shall be full 
of his glory. Then shall none teach his neighbour 
to know the Lord, for all shall know him from the 



98 



least to the greatest." John saw a ransomed and 
glorified host above^ and they sung a new song of 
praise to the Lamb who had redeemed them out of 
every nation and people, saying, Thou hast made 
as kings and priests unto God, and we shall reign 
on the earth."^^ Of these same faithful servants, 
our Lord had said while he was yet with them, 
" Ye are they who have followed me in the rege- 
neration, and I have appointed unto you a kingdom, 
even as my Father hath appointed unto me, that 
ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom.'' 
Again, Ye shall sit on twelve thrones judging 
the twelve, tribes of Israel." 

Perhaps you imagine that God will enlighten 
this Blessed and Holy time with some new revela- 
tion, in order to produce this general knowledge^ 
this perfect and uniform standard of belief and 
practice. No ! " The word of the Lord endureth 
for ever, and this is the word which by the Gospel 
is ministered to you." 

The sun constantly shines with the same degree 
of splendor. The reason why one time is darker 
than another to us, is the intercepting medium of 
clouds and earthly vapours. Thus also has the 
Sun of Righteousness been darkened in his going 
forth. But the secret of this universal change will 
be easy of solution, if we consider that all, from 



99 



the least to the greatest, shall seek to the law and 
to the testimony ^'^'^ Then the language of all shall 
be, By thee only will we make mentioyi of thy 
name* The Lord shall teach us his ways, and we 
will ivalk in his paths,'^^ Jesus rejoiced in spirit 
when he said, " I thank thee, O Father, Lord of 
heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things 
from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them 
to babes Why v^as the truth hid from the w^ise 
and prudent ? Because human expositions led 
them to form other calculations than those of di- 
vine appointment. Why was it revealed to chil- 
dren ? Because they had no preconceived opi- 
nion. They believed simply on the evidence of 
their own senses. Unity of spirit shall then super- 
sede diversity of opinion. Love, the principle of 
unity, shall characterize all. The Church of 
Ciirist shall then be without spot or wrinkle, or 
any such thing ; fair as the m.oon, clear as the sun, 
terribly surrounded with ban.iers. 

But before these things, or rather when the sign 
of them begins to appear, Satan, the adversary, 
shall come down to earth with great power, know- 
ing that his time there is short. He would crush, 
in its infancy, this hope of all the faithfuL, which 
have been since the world began. But God . pre- 
vents his evil design, by placing his purpose above 



loe 

and beyond his reach. In studying with attention 
the testimony of our Lord and his apostles, you 
will learn that a false and deceitful spirit called 
Antichrist, shall practice and prosper ; even that 
wicked whom the Lord shall consume with the 
spirit of his mouth, and destroy with the light of 
his coming,'' This evil spirit is characterized as 
a usurper, demanding a homage which is due to 
God alone. He is also a deceiving and lying spi- 
rit; for were it not that mankind are deceived by 
his false reasoning, they would not be overtaken 
unawares by the coming of the Lord ; nor would 
that happy day of blissful expectation come upon 
them as a snare. This false spirit has taught many 
to follow his pernicious ways, by reason of which 
the way of Truth is evil spoken of. The inspired 
apostles testify, that Christ shall again come in like 
manner as he was seen ascending into heaven.— 
Antichrist teaches, that Christ shall not come in 
like manner as he went, but shall reign in spirit 

as he has done ei^^hteen centuries on earth. Zion 

v 

and Jerusalem, whose renovation to more than 
pristine glory formed the theme of their prophetic 
thanksgiving, Antichrist teaches are no lon- 
ger realities, but figures of speech, to be applied to 
any thing but the LAND OF PROMISE. When 
our Lord and his apostles make mention of coming 



101 



down to dwell among men. Antichrist teaches that 
Earth means Heaven : that wherever Jews and 
House of Israel are addressed, connected with pro- 
mised blessing, any order of professing Gentiles 
may engross these names ; those who originally 
owned them having been superseded by them 
forever. Antichrist moreover teaches, that an 
eternity of punishment, as the well-earned wages 
oiprivileged unbelievers, is quite a mistake ; the 
words eternal, everlasting, forever, being intend- 
ed to convey the notion of a limited term : 
while the declaration that "their worm shall 
not die, neither shall their fire be quenched," 
describes in vivid imagery a hopeful stage of re- 
forming discipline. The language of the De- 
ceiver again is, " Ye shall not surely die." — 
The Lord may change^ or cease to be holy, 
just, and true ; or your consciousness of me- 
rited punishment, may cease to accuse and tor- 
ment you : perhaps your immortal spirit may die* 
Although Satan with all his artifice never could, 
never shall, pass that great gulph which separates 
the holy from the unregenerate, under his precept 
and example he has sufficient address to make the 
deceived imagine they need not despair. This is 
the doctrine of Antichrist the deceiver 5 and many 
40 



shall it lull as an ooi'ate to sleep, until they awake 
from their delusioa in the fire which never shall be 
quenched. 

I would not have been thus explicit in detailing 
the characteristics of Antichrist, had not the apos- 
tles said to those who are awake and watching, 
" See that ye put the brethren in continual remerU' 
brance of these things ; namely, the second coming 
of Christ, and the etJbrts which the adversary of 
his kingdom shall finally make to oppose its first 
feeble struggles into existence. That Ike adversa- 
ry has discountenanced, and well nigh discarded 
this doctrine which Christ and his apostles so se- 
dulously taught, is no marvel ; for Satan, who 
knows that his time is short when these things be- 
gin to be signified, also knows that the kingdom of 
Christ shall be raised on the ruins of Antichristo 

To be wise above what is written ; intruding in- 
to the secret counsels of the infinite one, is prohi" 
bited. To be wise up to what is written., taking 
heed to the sure word of prophecy, which shineth 
as a light in a dark place," is commended. Se- 
€ret things belong to God : things revealed., belong 
to us and our children." How shall we avoid ha- 
ving the name and mark, and authority/ of the 
Deceiver, unless we know the prohibited charac- 



108 



teristics of his doctrine, by contrasting the nature 
/ of it with the doctrine of Christ and his apostles. — 
We are solemnly required, nay commanded, to 
guard against them, unless we would drink of the 
wrath of God poured into the cup of his indig- 
nation forever ; and that, too, in the presence of 
the holy angels, and in the presence of the insult- 
ed Lamb. 1 subjoin, with cordial assent to them, 
the remarks of a latter-day luminary of the Church 
of England, written with reference to the state of 
feeling preceding the restoration of the covenant 
people of God ; an event synonymous with the 
Kingdom of Messiah. 

" When reasoning on righteousness and judg- 
ment to come, is forced on the ear of the present 
age, many may Uke Fehx tremble ; but the conve- 
nient season for laying these things to hearty seldom 
arrives. The consideration that all things remain 
as they were, has acted as an opiate to lull the at- 
tention even of professors themselves, to the signs 
of the times. Where is the promise of his coming ? 
would not be confined to scoffers, did not decency 
prescribe silence. 

" It is time for professors to live in ceiled hou- 
ses, but according to their calculation^ the time is 
not come for the Lord's House to be built. They 
are as secure and worldly-minded; as if no Bride- 
groom were expected. 



104 



The religion of too many consists of being as 
good as their neighbours^ and in doing no visible 
harm ; and thej expect to escape as it were with 
their neighbours, and suffer no harm, ' in the day of 
retribution^ which shall burn as a furnace ; when 
all the proud^ yea all that do wickedly^ shall be con- 
sumed as stubble. Remember, dear youth, your 
blood shall be required at your own hand, if you 
are overtaken unawares. Be not deceived ; for 
it is when mankind say peace and safety^ that sud- 
den destruction cometh upon them, and they shall 
not escape.' Let not then the universal aspect of 
security which prevails, lull you asleep ; for thfe 
Bridegroom cometh at a time and in a manner that 
few can discern. Hear what thy Lord saith ; and 
thus at the mouth of two or three witnesses eve- 
ry word shall be established. 

" I know thy works, that thou hast a name to 
live, but art dead. Be watchful^ and strengthen 
the things that remain and are ready to die ; for I 
have not found thy works upright before God. — 
Remember, therefore, how thou hast received and 
heard ; and hold fast and repent. If thou wilt not 
watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt 
not know what hour I will come upon thee. Bless- 
ed is he that is called to the, MARRIAGE supper of 
the Lamb. Blessed and holy are they who have 



105 



part in the first resurrection ; on such the second 
death hath no power, but they shall be priests of 
God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thou* 
sand years," 

Search the Scriptures ; watch^ and pray, that 
thou mayest be enabled to say, with all those who 
love his appearing, COME LORD JESUS, 
COME QUICKLY. 



XNDES. 

Pride, ; . i . 17 

Covetou^ness, 20 

Envy, . • 2S 

Anger, 30 

Sloth, 38 

Sensuality, 42 

Intemperance, 47 



First Stage of Regeneration, 53 

More advanced state of Regeneration, . . . • 57 

The form of Religion, 61 

The Backslider, 63 

The Philosopher, . 69 

Regenerated Heart, 73 

The Laws of God written on the Heart, ... 79 

The Heart of one who has overcome, &c. ... 85 

Concluding Address, ^ 



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